As he beds into a fifth season in charge of the Carlow footballers, Niall Carew says that the backing of the county board and the impact of the Tailteann Cup were huge factors in his decision to stay at the helm.
At a period when some counties in the lower tiers of Gaelic football found it difficult to find the management teams that they wanted, Carew says he relishes the prospect of further developing Carlow's young players.
"It is a massive commitment, and it is the same for all backroom teams in Ireland," he states.
"Every manager and backroom are putting in massive hours.
"When you see a young Carlow side learn resilience and winning games at senior level and you see that they are making progress all the time then it is easy to come back.
"I was lucky to have the county board stick with me as we build a new team and the Tailteann Cup is a great competition too and has been important for us," he added.
"I would have been against it early on but Croke Park, the media, teams and players all got behind it and it is exciting and well promoted. One of our own Ross Dunphy won an All-Star too so that is massive for Carlow.
"The thing is that it is tangible, and we have an outside chance of winning it and that is important for us."
The Kildare native comes from a staunch GAA family and previously managed Sligo and Waterford, before taking over Carlow in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
This year they lost to Wicklow in the Leinster SFC before coming back against the same opposition with a fine win in the Tailteann Cup.
They reached the Tailteann quarter-finals before losing to Antrim.
Next year Carew will once again be assisted by Simon Rea, Ronan Joyce and Eamonn Callaghan.
Carew inherited a young Carlow squad that didn't have much success at Under-17 or U20 level and a panel that was hit by 14 retirements before Carew took charge.
Overall, he feels that Gaelic football is viewed differently by coaches and spectators.
He explains: "For coaches the end result is always about trying to get any niche you can and that has meant that possession football has gone up a notch. No one wants to give away the ball, it’s as simple as that.
"For any coach going forward your players have to hold onto the ball.
"It is not pretty to watch but maybe the trick is to not let teams pass back to the goalkeeper from within their own half.
"I feel that is probably the one change that could work.
"If the keeper was not allowed to get any pass back that would be a game changer.
"The three men inside proposal could be impossible to police, especially in the club game," he adds.
"But don’t get me wrong, I don’t know if there is a whole pile wrong. I do know watching club games it is not pretty, teams holding onto the ball for five minutes at a time, meaning that the opposition can’t commit.
"So maybe take the back pass to keeper altogether and enhance the game.
"The game has changed but it still interests me. You simply have to improve your own set-up. It is results driven, and from the terraces, I know it is not pretty when teams are passing side to side, but you try to create gaps, move around the defensive shape that the opposition have and try to find holes.
"When you’re a coach you don’t want to force a pass because if you do you are in trouble.
"But the counter-attack is exciting and Derry are a great example in the way they’ve evolved so maybe more teams will try that path."
