Mayo's season with new manager Andy Moran at the helm began last Saturday with victory over Sligo in the FBD League, but when it will finish up will be one of the storylines of the summer.
The 2017 Footballer of the Year takes over from Kevin McStay, who the Mayo County Board "relieved" of his duties as his reign came to a disappointing conclusion after their failure to emerge from the All-Ireland series.
His three years in charge saw Championship exits to eventual winners Dublin (2023), a penalty shootout to Derry (2024) and a last-gasp defeat to Donegal in the last round-robin.
While not the forceful contenders of old, there is a 'glass half-full' argument that small tweaks could dramatically alter the narrative.
The bookmakers, who are rarely too far wide of the mark, seem to hold a similar view.
The pecking order for the race for Sam Maguire has Mayo fourth in line alongside Dublin, and ahead of 2024 champions Armagh and neighbours Galway.
Moran’s decision to continue his inter-county journey on native shores, along with the return to the fold of Robbie Hennelly, James Carr and Cillian O’Connor has added to the growing sense of optimism within the county.
The acrimony surrounding McStay’s departure made little difference to Moran.
"I didn't really think much about it if I'm being honest," he told RTÉ Sport.
"That's between the County Board and Kevin, it's not really my kind of responsibility. It's really a situation where they had whatever disagreement, or whatever agreements they had, it was done and it was just trying to move on."
The ambition to manage Mayo has been there since the playing boots were hung up, but earning the stripes was a vital part of the journey.
"I wanted to prove I could get a group playing, that I could work with a backroom team," he said.
"Once you can do that, if the job comes up that's going to be the biggest job for me or anyone that's going to manage their own county, you can go for it then.
"That’s what happened and I felt I was ready. Kevin stepping away last year was just the time to go and go for the job."
The Ballaghaderreen man insisted his biggest focus since his appointment has been the club scene and ensuring the panel was as strong as it could possibly be.
From the 2021 panel that tasted more All-Ireland final heartache, 10 players were out of the picture for one reason or another.
With the likes of all-time top scorer O’Connor, and long-serving goalkeeper Hennelly reversing his retirement decision, back in the fray, it all adds up to a stronger hand.
Hennelly - based in Raheny and a club team-mate of Dublin pair Brian Howard and Sean McMahon - showed his deadball skills as he finished the scrappy win over Sligo last weekend as the game's top scorer, knocking over a couple of two-point frees with ease.
Another return to the fold – if only short-term – was Geelong’s Oisín Mullin.
The two-time Young Footballer of the Year, a goalscorer for the Cats in this year’s AFL Grand Final, used his trip home to link in with the panel and even joined the squad for a Portuguese training camp last month.
The 25-year-old is now back in Australia and while resuming life in a Mayo jersey seems a while away, Moran was delighted with his contribution.
"The biggest thing coming out of Australia when the lads come home is the cultural aspect that brings the group and Oisín was brilliant in terms of getting connection between the group and being humble enough to do little things around the place," he said.
Another Mayo loss to Australia is the prodigious talent of Kobe McDonald, with the Leaving Cert student set to link up with Melbourne-based St Kilda next summer.
Son of the legendary Kieran McDonald, the teenager has caught the eye for both club and county (underage) as the GAA player drain once again hits Mayo hard.
For now, he joins the likes of Darragh Beirne, Colm Lynch, Eoin McGreal, Diarmuid Duffy, Cathal Keaveney and Tom Lydon in trying to make the step-up at senior level, though school commitments mean an appearance in the Allianz League may be unlikely.
"He’s brilliant, he trains with us when he can, but Kobe is a different story because he’s doing the Leaving Cert, playing schools football, schools basketball and he’s an Under-20 player," Moran explained.
After 17 seasons in the Green and Red, it was anticipated that Moran would return to Mayo after embarking on his inter-county managerial career with Leitrim in 2021.
He led them to Division 3 before taking on a coaching role with Monaghan as the Farney men reached last year’s All-Ireland quarter-finals.
Outside county bounds, Moran felt his perspective could offer something different, the same rationale for including Down’s Paddy Tally on his coaching ticket, along with former team-mate Colm Boyle.
"It's great to have Paddy there just to say, 'OK, what would you have done in this situation? How would you have changed it?'
"He just gives a different kind of perspective and it might be only the finite change, but it might be the difference between something working and something not working."
How have the past five years shaped his outlook on the game as he becomes the latest man to attempt to end Mayo’s All-Ireland drought?
"When I'm rolling something that might have ran well in Leitrim and might have seen something run well in Monaghan, I might try to implement it in Mayo and all of a sudden you're bringing it in," he said.
"It's just little tricks along the way. You just bring little things to the table all the time."
