Diarmuid O'Sullivan says he would be 'foolish' to rule out Cork job in the future

Former Cork player and selector Diarmuid O’Sullivan says he would be “foolish” not to entertain the notion of becoming the county’s manager at some stage in the future.

The Cloyne native, a winner of All-Irelands as a player in 1999, 2004 and 2005, served as a selector under Kieran Kingston in 2016 and 2017 and again from 2020-22, with the Rebels winning the Munster title in 2017 and reaching the All-Ireland final of 2021.

While he was disappointed not to get the Cork U20 job when it became available in late 2022, O’Sullivan instead became involved with Sarsfields, acting as coach under manager Johnny Crowley as they won last year’s Co-op SuperStores Cork Premier SHC title.

He is currently combining the Sars role with one as part of Down’s management and, speaking to the BBC’s The GAA Social podcast, he admitted that the Cork job is something he would never rule out.

"If it became available and everything was falling right for you, I think you'd be very foolish," he said.

"There's a serious crop of young talent coming through Cork at the moment, from U16 through to U18. Even the successful U20s that Ben [O'Connor] had last year and the current group that he has this year.

"There's a real opportunity for Cork to grasp the hurling championship similar in the way Limerick have done over the last number of years; whether it will ever reach that height is a bigger question.

"Not every guy aspires to being Cork manager because a lot of pressure comes with it. I'd be very, very close with Pat Ryan. I've worked with Kieran [Kingston] for two terms when he was manager. It's not the easiest job in the world. There's a lot of eyes on Cork."

After the second senior stint ended, O’Sullivan was in the mix for the U20 job but instead it went to Ben O’Connor, who guided Cork to a third All-Ireland in four years.

O’Sullivan doesn’t begrudge his former team-mate but, equally, he was disappointed.

"This is not me versus Ben O'Connor," he said.

"I had served in the inter-county set-up. Ben had served his time at club level and was very successful. I've always admired Ben's style of play and coaching from afar.

"Did you want to pick a guy who had five years’ service at senior inter-county level or Ben who was coming with success behind him at club level? I can't figure out why [I didn't get it] but that was their decision.

"I thought I'd served my apprenticeship really well. I had served it from winning All-Irelands at U16 level to bringing through a number of guys to other squads to jumping straight into the senior ranks with Kieran for the first term of two years. Two years out and then back in for another three years.

"I said, 'What's progression for me?' I threw my hat in the ring for the U20 job. It didn't work out that way. I wouldn't begrudge Ben the job for love nor money because he's an exceptional guy, a guy I'd have real time for, really progressive.

"It did sting, it did hurt. I'd spent a lot of time after my playing career working within the systems of Cork GAA. 

"They'd built a pathway for players and coaches and managers to progress. It didn't work out. When you look at it now, there's some guys a lot older than me who've been out of the system a long time and are still involved at a high level coaching and managing within Cork.”

Crowley had been enlisted as part of O’Sullivan’s prospective U20 management team and then, when he got the Sars job, he asked O’Sullivan to come on board as coach.

The Riverstown club won the county title for the first time in nine years, with O’Sullivan channelling his frustrations.

“It was a great day for us," said O'Sullivan.

“John Crowley, when that didn't work out for us, he said 'I know there's an opportunity up in Sars, will we go for it?' 

"I said, 'I can tell you now John, if me and you are stepping into this, we are winning this, no matter what it takes, we are winning it'..’ We made that commitment to each other and we brought the guys on an incredible journey last year.

"I remember the trophy was being presented and I looked up at two of the guys who were on the interview panel and just said to myself, 'Thanks for that lads'. It was extra motivation for me to push on.”