Jesus thatâs sad
Some story.
They were great years for Tipp GAA. I remember a conversation with a hurling panel member who commented heâd rather have been a sub on the footballers such was the craic they had.
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No mention of this in the mainstream media still or even on Twitter. Another TFK exclusive. Unfortunately an extremely sad one in this instance.
Twitter is down I think? For me anyway
Sounds like Elon has cancelled you
He has me on ignore
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What was the song he used sing himself?
He used sing it in the dressing room after when managing Tipp. It was class.
Yippee aye yay or something like that.
Unlikely to have been this version Iâd say.
He was a young fella then!
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How the coaching evangelist reached the top
Christy OâConnor
Saturday July 02 2016, 12.01am BST, The Times
Kearns celebrates after Tipperaryâs semi-final victory over Cork
RYAN BYRNE/INPHO
Dromcollogher-Broadford is as good a starting point as any to begin the story of Liam Kearnsâ management career. A small parish situated in the heart of Limerick hurling territory, they were a junior football club with no tradition.
Whatever heritage Drom-Broadford had in the past was always rooted in hurling. The parish is detached from any footballing heartland; 2004 All Ireland club hurling champions Newtownshandrum lie just four miles away over the Cork border.
They finally won a Junior B title in 1992 before a crusade was launched by an unlikely explorer. Doctor Bob Sheehy was a millionaire eccentric with no family who took a huge interest in Drom-Broadfordâs young players. In 1996, he rang Kearns out of the blue. Sheehy was looking for one of the best young coaches in the game and he asked Kearns to take over the clubâs minor football team.
Kearns didnât know if it was a hoax call or if it was somebody winding him up. He checked out Doc Sheehy. Then he had to find out where Drom-Broadford was, or if it even existed. It did. They won a minor title for the first time and a maiden under-21 title followed in 1998 under Kearns. Before he left to take over the Limerick seniors in the autumn of 1999, the base had been built. A first senior title in 2001 was followed by three more that decade. In 2008, nine of Kearnsâ minor team started in the Drom-Broadford side which won an historic Munster club senior title.
He has a habit of turning good young players into good senior teams. In 2000, he guided the Limerick under-21s to their first Munster title. In Kearnsâ second game in charge of the seniors the previous October, they went to Leitrim and were beaten by 20 points. Limerick were nothing back then but Kearns steadily built them into a force, block by block. In 2004, they were cruelly denied a first Munster football title in 108 years, losing to Kerry after a replay.
Kearns stepped down in 2005 and took over Laois in 2007, guiding them to that yearâs Leinster final, which they lost to Dublin by six points. After narrowly losing a qualifier to Derry, the heat came on. Mick Lawlor, the former Laois player, publicly said that the team had gone âbackwardsâ under Kearns.
He was gone by the end of the following summer after championship defeats to Wexford and Down. Privately, he was taken aback by how poorly conditioned the Laois players were when he arrived. He dropped some big names and injuries limited his hand.
Laois was a frustrating experience for Kearns but many of the players rated him. Peter OâLeary said recently that Kearns was the âright manager at the wrong time in our evolutionâ. Colm Parkinson, who fell out with every manager he played under at some point, was always impressed by Kearnsâ mature, man-to-man approach. âLiam was the one manager whoâd been man enough to have a barney with you and the next day it would be âHowya, Woolyâ and move on,â he said.
After playing in two All Ireland minor finals with Kerry in 1979 and 1980 and forcing himself on to the bench for Kerryâs 1985 All Ireland success, Kearns began his managerial career on the Limerick club circuit when his playing career finished. He was living in the county and it was an unfashionable trip but he left his mark wherever he stopped off. He led Na Piarsaigh to an under-21 football title when they were renowned as a hurling club. He steered an ailing Lansdowne Rovers to a county junior title a few years before the club was disbanded.
He was an unknown coaching evangelist and when he landed his first high-profile job, the title didnât deserve that status. He was an instructor at the Garda College in Templemore and they offered him the football team. They were competing in the Trench Cup (higher level Division Two) but they won two Trench Cups and reached the final of the Sigerson Cup at only their second attempt.
Kearns has drawn something from all his experiences. Dinny Long, his former coach with Austin Stacks, was the best motivator he ever came across. He learned the importance of discipline from Mick OâDwyer. Coming from Kerry, Kearns always wanted to play attractive football but he also had a willingness to try different things. Two years before Kieran Donaghy made his name as a target-man full-forward smashing blanket defences, Kearns had used John Galvin in a similar role.
Despite all he has achieved, Kearnsâ face never fully fit at Kerry. Some critics felt he didnât have enough medals, a charge levelled at Jack OâConnor in his early days. Others never forgave him for applauding Darragh Ă SĂŠ off the field when he was sent off for slapping on Galvin in the 2004 league semi-final.
Kearns has just kept learning, evolving and proving himself elsewhere. After managing Aherlow to the Tipperary SFC title in 2010, he completed a strength and conditioning degree from Setanta College. After taking over Fr Caseyâs senior team in Limerick in 2014, Kearns moved to Roscommon as a forwards coach under John Evans. When the Tipp job came up, the board went gung-ho for Donie Buckley, while Michael McGeehan was also on their radar. Kearns was down the list but he blew them away in the interview.
Ever since he got the job, Kearns has done what he has always been good at; turning good young players into a really good senior team.
I was in Ryans that night myself. A mighty night. Had a pint with Paddy Morrissey and Taffy McCarthy from Bansha. Everyone was in great form. They were some days to be following Tipp footballers. Very saddened by the news. He was a real throwback manager. He could quite conceivably crash on the sofa of your couch on one of those nights out and be dogging you in training Tuesday evening by all accounts.
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Many years ago saw Liam in Reardons Cork with the Limerick footballers having a jolly up, I think they had beaten Cork the same day and were having a great night. That group of Limerick footballers really loved Kearns and played for him.
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glory days for that bunch, is that after the munster under 21 football win?
Lucey was some footballer
He played a big part in developing the group of footballers that backboned Limerick for a decade. We should have won a Munster though.
Hammering Cork in 2003 was a great day though, and that U-21 Munster win in 2000 was a serious achievement.
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AI semi final win V Westmeath 2000
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great achievements, a shame that they didnt win a munster senior, so close
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Jesus, canât believe it.
Had some brilliant days out when he was in charge, at senior and u-21. Absolutely mad to think Limerick were a Division One team under him. Really dragged Limerick football up to respectability. Had Kerry in 2004 but just couldnât inch over the line.
I think he had a brother who died suddenly in similar circumstances a number of years ago.
Shocking. Terrible, terrible news.
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He was a very shrewd operator Iâd say on the tactical side.
I remember sitting behind him at a Tipp match in 2017 against Armagh and you know the way in football one team would be out around the middle handpassing around harmlessly enough. Well he never once looked at any of that, he was always watching the movement off the ball and what was going on inside in the forward lines.