It seems anyone that comes into contact with Stephen Rochford walks away impressed.
The bank manager based in Castlerea was a decent footballer, nothing special, but he made the most of the talents he had and won an All-Ireland club title with his native Crossmolina Deel Rovers in 2001.
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He started out as a back and finished up as a forward, winning the last of his Mayo senior championships up front, with most who lined out with him noting the clever way he played the game.
Rochford was still kicking ball with Crossmolina when he got involved as a selector with Mayo minors 11 years ago and it quickly became clear that he had a future on the sidelines.
Stints with various underage sides and GMIT in the Sigerson Cup paved the way to Galway club powerhouse Corofin, who set him some pretty lofty targets when he joined in 2013.
“We had to get out of Galway first and through Connacht, but the long-term goal would have been to win an All-Ireland title,” said Michael Farragher. Farragher lifted the Andy Merrigan Cup on St Patrick’s Day 2015.
“We were going to do whatever it took and going for a manager outside the club for the first time was a big thing. It was massive because we’re very tight, we’ve had good managers in Corofin and we weren’t shy of good candidates for the job.”
Corofin beat Derry’s Slaughtneil to claim the title, but for many it was won in the semi-final when they disposed of defending champions St Vincent’s, who were raging hot favourites - not unlike Dublin in the recent All-Ireland final they drew with Rochford’s Mayo.
“We were very much underdogs that day, they were All-Ireland champions, but we fully expected to beat them,” said Farragher. “We knew that we had every base covered because of Stephen and that gave us self-belief.
“He’s able to train a team, coach a team, and his man-management skills are savage. He didn’t fall out with anyone while he was here; there are often problems when you are managing a team but he managed to keep everything under control.”
“I said it from day one - if any man is going to get Mayo to win an All-Ireland, it’s Stephen Rochford" - Michael Farragher
The Mayo job came available a little less than 12 months ago when a player-heave saw Pat Holmes and Noel Connelly deposed as joint-bosses. The argument was that the panel were used to the best under James Horan and they didn’t see it in the two men’s only season in charge.
Rochford was in the middle of guiding Corofin to a three in-a-row of Galway titles and another tilt at Connacht. He made no secret of his desire to manage his native county and it must have been an unwelcome distraction.
He was just 37-years-old and was taking over a panel who had backed themselves into a corner. They weren't ideal circumstances, but he knew the opportunity might not come around again.
A rocky League campaign and early Connacht elimination to Galway appeared to show a Mayo team on the slide, but here they are - in an All-Ireland final replay with Dublin.
John P Kean picked Rochford to be the first of his seven Mayo minor captains during his term in charge of the county’s Under-18s between 1996 and 2002, a run which featured five Connacht titles and two All-Ireland appearances.
Having won Sigerson Cups, All-Ireland club titles and All-Ireland crowns at minor and Under-21 level as a player, Kean has seen plenty of remarkable individuals up close and Rochford is a man he rates as highly as any of them.
“When I sat down with the four selectors to talk about our captain we all said the same name and it was Stephen’s,” he explained.
“That was largely because of his popularity with the rest of the players - he was very outgoing and very positive in outlook and there was nothing negative about his approach to the game.
“I played him as a wing half-back and in our first Connacht final we were seven points to no-score down against Sligo at half-time. Coming down the tunnel I heard people in the crowd talking about the worst Mayo minor team they’d ever seen.
“But we came back and were only a point down with a minute or two to go, we got a free, Stephen rumbled up the field, took it short and popped it over the bar from about 40 yards out, though he’d probably say now it was about 75 yards! We won the replay.
“He made it his business to get up the field. He wasn’t going to be beaten and he wasn’t afraid to take the responsibility himself.”
That positivity, self-belief and willingness to take responsibility are all hallmarks of the current Mayo team. These characteristics were on display when they refused to lie down in the drawn All-Ireland final against Dublin.
His captain at Corofin, Farragher says: “I said it from day one - if any man is going to get Mayo to win an All-Ireland, it’s Stephen Rochford.
“You can see his stamp on them all year - they have massive self-belief and even though they haven’t been playing well they have been winning games.”
Watch live coverage of Dublin v Mayo on The Saturday Game on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player from 1600 and follow our live blog on RTE.ie. Live radio coverage on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1 and highlights on The Saturday Game on RTÉ2 from 2200.
