Replacing the great Brian Cody in the Kilkenny hot seat might have been viewed as a poisoned chalice but Derek Lyng has the chance to join an exclusive club today: managers to win the All-Ireland hurling title in their first year in charge.
His counterpart, John Kiely of Limerick, Micheal Donoghue, Davy Fitzgerald, Dónal O'Grady and Cody all did it in their second year in charge since the turn of millennium but getting over the line inside the first 12 months is a rate feat indeed.
Here are the most recent men to manage it.
2016 - Michael Ryan (Tipperary)
The 1991 All-Ireland winning corner-back had been a selector with Liam Sheedy in 2010 and assistant manager under Eamon O’Shea from 2012-15.
Tipperary made the unusual step of confirming him as O'Shea's successor a year before the change over but it paid off as the banker and farmer from Upperchurch-Drombane led the Premier County to a flawless championship season at the first attempt.
Tipperary beat Waterford by 21 points in the provincial final and were 2-29 to 2-20 winners over Kilkenny in the All-Ireland decider after a narrow semi-final win over Galway.
The Tribesmen got their revenge at the same stage the following year and Ryan resigned after Tipp failed to get out of Munster in 2018. He was replaced by… Sheedy, who won the title in his first year back in charge.
2005 - John Allen (Cork)
A dual star who won two hurling All-Irelands in his playing days, Allen was a selector under Donal O’Grady in 2003 and 2004.
Cork had won the title in O'Grady's second season but he stuck by a pledge not to seek an extended term, win or lose.
Allen (50) succeeded his fellow school principal and went one better, beating Tipperary to reclaim the Munster crown that had been lost to Waterford the previous year, and then overseeing a 1-21 to 1-16 victory over Kilkenny's conquerors Galway in the final.
He stepped down when Cork lost their three-in-a-row bid in the final against the Cats in 2006. The Rebels haven't got over the line since.
Allen later managed Limerick for two seasons, securing their first Munster title in 17 years in 2013.
1998 - Michael Bond (Offaly)
Never mind first year, the Galway man did it in his first four months.
He only made three championship appearances for his native county but became well regarded as a coach and managed the Tribes minors and U21s, the latter to the 1983 title.
Another principal, the fact that the Ardrahan man was available at short notice might have played a part when Babs Keating sparked a player revolt with his 'sheep in a heap' categorisation of his players in their five-point Leinster final defeat to Kilkenny.
"I honestly don't know why they called," he told The Irish Independent in 2018. "Maybe the fact that I was the principal of a school and somebody who would have some discipline could have been a reason. It is amazing how things happen. That whole summer was a fairy tale."
The Faithful laboured past Antrim in the quarter-finals but their season came to life in three unforgettable semi-final clashes with Clare: a 1-13 draw, then a replay they were losing by three points when referee Jimmy Cooney blew it up five minutes early, sparking a pitch protest, and a decisive third meeting that Offaly won 0-16 to 0-13.
They gained revenge over the Cats in the final, star wing-back Brian Whelehan scoring 1-06 after moving up front as Bond's team were given licence to thrill and triumphed 2-16 to 1-13.
He stepped down after the 1999 semi-final loss to Cork, returning for one more, less successful season in 2001, when Offaly lost to Kilkenny in the Leinster last four, at a time when only provincial finalists got a second chance.
1995 - Ger Loughane (Clare)
Twice an All-Star and league winner but a five-time beaten Munster finalist on the pitch, Loughnane channelled all the disappointment of his inter-county playing career to end Clare's long trophy famine.
A former senior selector and U21 manager, where he saw at first-hand the potential of the likes of Anthony Daly, Brian Lohan and Jamesie O'Connor, the Feakle man was back in as a selector under Len Gaynor in 1994 when Clare beat Tipperary but lost by nine to Limerick in the Munster final.
Another school principal, Loughnane had been lined up by then county chairman Brendan Vaughan as the next county manager and the man Daly affectionately called "that driven lunatic" immediately set about making Clare the fittest, most driven team in the country, with early-morning training sessions in Crusheen and infamous shuttle runs up a hill in Shannon.
A double-scores loss to Kilkenny in the league final dented confidence a little but Clare certainly believed after coming from five points down to beat Cork in the Munster semi-final despite Seanie McMahon having to play with an injured collarbone.
Clare then thumped Limerick for a first provincial title in 65 years, had five to spare over Galway in the All-Ireland semis and dethroned champions Offaly 1-13 to 2-08 to claim the Liam MacCarthy Cup for just the second time and first since 1914.
Loughnane won another in 1997 and could have had a third but for that unfortunate temporal misjudgement in '98. Clare did get to an All-Ireland semi-final in '99 but he stepped down after their Munster exit to Tipperary the following year.
A two-year stint in Galway from 2006-07 ended in successive quarter-final defeats to eventual champions Kilkenny.
1984 Michael O’Brien
'The Canon’ was a Catholic Priest with a love for hurling who coached St Finbarr's College, Farranferris to multiple Harty Cup and All-Ireland titles and UCC to eight consecutive Fitzgibbon Cups from 1980/81-87/88.
He was named Cork joint-manager alongside Justin McCarthy in 1984 and the Rebels bridged a six-year wait for glory by beating Offaly 3-16 to 1-12 in the centenary final in Thurles, before which O'Brien gave a speech that John Fenton recalled as coming from "a great motivator".
McCarthy later insisted that he was the coach and O’Brien a selector only, but even if that were the case then O'Brien was also a first-year winning manager when Cork beat Galway 5-15 to 2-21 in the 1990 final, the last time a county won both the football and hurling titles.
The Innishannon native was coach to six Cork senior teams in total, six minor winning teams (1969-71, 1974, 1978 and 1979) and the junior winning team of 1983.
He was president of Blackrock Hurling Club at the time of his death in 2014, having been involved in their county final victories in 1985 and 1999.
1980 - Cyril Farrell (Galway)
Another teacher (of course), Farrell won a Fitzgibbon Cup with UCG and Galway and Connacht titles with Tommy Larkins but described himself as "a very ordinary club hurler".
He was far from ordinary as a manager. Farrell was just 23 when his Galway minors reached the 1973 All-Ireland final, which they lost to Kilkenny, and 28 when he got the U21s over the line after a replay against Tipperary.
He was still only 29 when assistant manager to Babs Keating (a great man for the ground work it appears) as Galway lost the 1979 senior final to Kilkenny.
Farrell took over for 1980, driving from Dublin on Tuesdays and Thursdays - "It never dawned on me to change training to a Friday because I would have been coming down anyway" and used the long hours on the road to plot Galway's path to the top.
They beat 'B' champions Kildare in a quarter-final, Leinster winners Offaly in the semis and Limerick 2-15 to 3-09 in the All-Ireland final. The west was awake again after 57 long years.
Galway were beaten by Offaly in the final the following year and Farrell stepped down after a semi-final exit to Kilkenny in 1982. He led the county to their first minor success the following year, however, and was back in the senior job by '85.
His second period in charge was even more successful: the men in Maroon reached four finals in a row from 1986-89, losing to Offaly in '85 and Cork in '86 before recording the county's first back-to-back successes, over the Cats in '87 and Tipp in '89. A fifth final was lost to Cork in 1990 and Farrell stepped away again but came back for a third, less successful bite of the cherry in 1996.
1979 – Pat Henderson and Eddie Keher (Kilkenny)
A five-time All-Ireland winning centre-back, Henderson (pictured) became joint Kilkenny manager with six-time winner Eddie Keher after hanging up his boots following defeat in the 1978 final to Cork.
The Fenians man was the one with the bigger role as trainer/coach, much like McCarthy, but neither were too bothered with defining titles as they led Kilkenny to a 2-12 to 1-08 win over Galway, who had dethroned four-in-a-row-seeking Cork.
Henderson was relieved of his duties after the 1980 Leinster final loss to Offaly but was back in sole charge for the All-Ireland final triumphs of 1982 and '83.
Things get a little hazy further back than this, as management roles were more loosely defined.
Another priest, then Father Bertie Troy was joint-manager with McCarthy when Cork were beaten in the All-Ireland semi-final 1975, but in sole charge for the treble secured from 1976-'78.
A few names may have been lost to history but regardless Lyng would join an elite band were he to steer Kilkenny up the Hogan Stand steps today.
Watch the All-Ireland Hurling Championship final, Limerick v Kilkenny, this Sunday from 2.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to live commentary on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio
