Dempsey exit could signal change in Cody’s direction
WHO would have figured that a man steeped in Laois football could leave such a lasting imprint on Kilkenny hurling, but that’s exactly the legacy Mick Dempsey has created with the Cats.
Fifteen years after joining up with Brian Cody, the former Laois footballer/manager departs having played his part in eight All-Ireland SHC successes (a staggering 13 All-Ireland finals in total including replays) and the most successful period in Kilkenny’s history.
“Getting Mick Dempsey on board was one of the best pieces of business we ever did,” former Kilkenny chairman Ned Quinn remarked in 2010 of a coach whose understated brilliance was a perfect fit for Cody.
Dempsey – who once said he thought the Cats boss was “off his rocker” for asking him to join his backroom – has never sought the limelight, with the majority of his talking done far away from the bright lights as he put the Cats through their paces on the training pitch.
Tricks
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks but the 60-year-old – who heads up the Sports Academy and Sport and Exercise programme in IT Carlow and has overseen much of their remarkable development in recent years – continues to defy that theory.
He modernised his sports science techniques throughout his involvement with Kilkenny, with several visits to professional teams on the other side of the globe. As times changed, so did his approach and Kilkenny bore the fruit of his labour.
Those who played under Dempsey have always been highly complimentary of his detailed work on their physical conditioning, with Eddie Brennan previously describing him as “a common denominator in Kilkenny’s success” and “a hugely important cog in the wheel”.
That cog has now been removed in the wake of their harrowing All-Ireland final defeat to Tipperary as the longest-serving inter-county selector in the GAA departs his role with comments made prior to the 2014 All-Ireland SHC final now coming into back into sharp focus.
“I would be less likely to go after a defeat than if we had won because there is always the challenge of actually trying to get things right.
“You reassess what happened and you want to get back and correct it,” Dempsey said about trying to right the wrongs of their disappointing 2013 campaign. But every year, I would think about whether I should come back or not. Maybe there is somebody better for the job, maybe a fresh face? So I would re-evaluate my own situation and that is every year. But I’ve always decided when I was asked to go back, to go back and give it another lash.”
Whether the call came from Cody to reload again or whether he has opted to go in a new direction is unclear but it wouldn’t be the first time for the Kilkenny supremo to make sweeping changes, most notably after seismic losses in 2001, 2004 and 2013.
The 11-time All-Ireland-winning manager has never been afraid to roll the dice if he thinks a switch of focus is needed and he has the glittering CV to reinforce the merit in his decisions.
Many predicted a transitional period for the Cats as they continue to adapt to life without some of the game’s finest talents, and dethroning All-Ireland champions Limerick was something few thought possible.
The raw materials of honesty and endeavour instilled by Cody throughout his 21 seasons in charge are there for all to see and what direction they go from here will be fascinating.
No matter who becomes Cody’s new right-hand man/woman, they are unlikely to replicate what Dempsey achieved, however, and he deserves every plaudit thrown his way.