TYRONE are on the look-out for a new manager after All-Ireland winning co-bosses Brian Dooher and Feargal Logan exited on Monday night.
The pair led the Red Hands to a dramatic fourth All-Ireland title in their first year in charge – in 2021 – but struggled to reach those dizzy heights in subsequent seasons as the senior squad underwent a deep rebuild.
Logan and Dooher were handed another three-year term in December 2023 but after a disappointing 2024 campaign, the pair called it quits.
All-Ireland winning goalkeeper Niall Morgan paid tribute to the two men and lamented that they couldn’t have given them more success during their four years at the helm.
“Feargal and Brian will forever be legends in the Tyrone GAA family,” Morgan said.
“Not only in football terms but they are two of the best men you could come across on a personal level as well.
“I will be forever grateful to them for what they have done for me. They have given me the freedom to express myself on the pitch and off.
“It is disappointing how it has all come to an end. As a team, we have underperformed massively in the last three years and as players we have to take our share of the blame in that as well.
Morgan added: “Feargal and Brian came in in 2021 and gave us the ability to achieve the ultimate success of winning an All Ireland.
“Their families have become extended members of our setup and they will all be missed.
“I am so thankful to both of them and of course to their backroom team who cannot be underestimated either. They all put in a lot of time and I have the ultimate respect for them all. I just wish we could have done more for all of them and give them more success.”
Tyrone crashed out of the Ulster series to Donegal at the semi-final stages and exited the All-Ireland series to Roscommon.
However, their managerial legacy will always be winning the Sam Maguire and manfully trying to keep Tyrone competitive in subsequent seasons as a host of experienced players left the panel and a raft of new ones came in.
In a statement, Tyrone county chairman Martin Sludden heaped praise on Dooher and Logan.
“They’ve simply made wonderful history for us, time and again, in place after place, and in so many ways,” he said.
“Always with style, class, dignity and honour.”
“And, very remarkably in the world we’re now in, always as total volunteers to the Tyrone GAA cause.”
Both men, along with Peter Canavan, led the Tyrone U21s to a memorable All-Ireland title in 2015 and six years later they claimed the top prize at senior level after former boss and three-time All-Ireland manager Mickey Harte was let go at the end of the 2020 season.
Logan, a successful solicitor, had a health scare earlier in the season, from which he fully recovered, while Dooher was appointed Chief Veterinary Officer last year.
Given the time demands of being inter-county managers and holding down high-profile jobs, something had to give.
“Brian’s and Feargal’s contributions to Tyrone GAA are just monumental,” said county secretary Michael Kerr.
“Too often we focus on ‘What’ people achieve. But in the broader picture the ‘How’ and the ‘Why’ are probably more important.”
“Brian and Feargal have delivered the supreme prizes for Tyrone.
“But they’ve always done that in the right way. And never more so than in the COVID throes, when they unapologetically prioritised the well-being of our players and then dealt so well with the serious impacts of the virus on our panel.”
Tyrone legend Peter Canavan would be a popular choice as the senior team’s next manager – but the possibility of that happening is virtually zero.
The Errigal Ciaran clubman doesn’t envisage himself stepping back into the inter-county managerial circuit again and has no intention of being involved in coaching his two sons - Darragh and Ruairi – who are two leading members of the current side.
In an interview with The Irish News in April, Canavan said: “I just think they [his sons] have a right to make their own way in life and in sport without the hang-ups, or the baggage or the trappings that go with it.
“When I was growing up, I didn’t have that; I saw others with it, and I didn’t like what I saw when family members were involved... It’s easier for them [without me]…”
Tyrone never truly convinced last season, with Canavan suggesting that Dooher and Logan had simply too many holes to plug.
“We probably don’t have the physicality of previous teams, there are a lot of younger players in there who are finding their feet too.”
Whether Malachy O’Rourke could be tempted by the Tyrone job in 2025 remains to be seen.
The Fermanagh native, currently with Derry champions Glen, had a spell at Errigal Ciaran earlier in his coaching career and is on record as saying he wouldn’t rule out a return to inter-county management.
