Paddy Tally is now favourite to become the new Derry senior football manager.
The Galbally native, who has been a coach with the Kerry footballers for the last three seasons, looks set to succeed Mickey Harte in the role. Tally’s Tyrone counterpart stepped down as Derry boss over four months ago.
The Irish Times understands Tally met a delegation of Derry players on Tuesday morning, with the finer details of the appointment to be discussed with county executive officials later that same evening.
Tally was to remain part of Jack O’Connor’s Kerry management team for 2025, but in a changed role as performance coach with Cian O’Neill taking on the position of head coach. It is believed Derry made several overtures to Tally in recent times, but he had committed to Kerry for next season.
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But after a frustrating and lengthy search to find a new manager it seems Derry have finally completed the 2025 intercounty managerial roster by getting Tally onboard.
With senior intercounty teams officially allowed to return to collective training on December 7th, Derry have been in danger of playing catch-up as every other county already had a manager in place.
Tally was part of Harte’s management team when Tyrone won their breakthrough All-Ireland in 2003. He later became a coach with James McCartan’s Down footballers when they contested the 2010 All-Ireland final.
He managed St Mary’s University College Belfast to a Sigerson Cup title in 2017 and was also a coach with Galway during Kevin Walsh’s reign. Tally managed the Down footballers from 2019-2021.
Shortly after stepping down from the Mourne County he was invited to join O’Connor’s set-up in Kerry, and helped the Kingdom win the Sam Maguire in 2022.
Despite the arduous journey from Tyrone to Kerry, Tally had committed to the Kerry cause again in 2025 and was included on the management team when it was announced in September. But it appears O’Connor will now have to rejig his backroom team in Kerry.
Derry’s search for a new manager has proved a struggle. Malachy O’Rourke, Karl Lacey, James Horan, Jim Gavin, Mickey Moran, Peter Keane, and Mark Doran are just some of the names to have been linked with the role.
Throughout the search, the possibility of former manager Rory Gallagher returning had continued to swirl in the background.
Indeed, only last week there were reports that a ticket led by Enda Muldoon as manager, and including Gallagher as coach, was under consideration. Derry GAA had previously stated Gallagher would not be returning.
