Jack O'Connor knows more than most how tough it is to manage Kerry expectations
The Kingdom have found it much harder to win All-Irelands in the modern era than in most of their history and that has piled the pressure on manager and players
ONE of the best episodes in TG4's consistently impressive 'Laochra Gael' series focused on Seamus Moynihan.
He ended up having such a stellar career that it's easy to forget Moynihan made his Kerry debut on one of the county's darkest days.
Moynihan started out on the day that Clare shocked the Kingdom in the 1992 Munster final, with the Banner winning their first provincial title in 75 years.
What was striking from the old footage of that game were the clips of Jack O'Shea.
Moynihan played in midfield that day, with the balding O'Shea stationed at full-forward.
O'Shea would turn 35 later that year.
He had been on the Kerry panel since 1976, and this would be his last game.
O'Shea won the last of his seven All-Irelands in 1986, so his last six seasons were, in a Kerry context, barren ones.
O'Shea raged against the dying of the light, but to no avail.
Kerry went from the most productive era in their history to the leanest of all.
The Kingdom won their 30th All-Ireland in '86 but they had to wait 11 long years until 1997 to claim their 31st.
Kerry fans who had grown fat on a diet of champagne and caviar found it hard to get used to the bread and water on offer.
In the deep south in the modern era, they've found the past decade and a half tough going too.
On September 20, 2009, they beat the noisy neighbours Cork by 0-16 to 1-9.
It was Kerry's fifth All-Ireland of that decade and their 36th in total.
But they have only added two to that tally in the 16 years since then - hard to accept if you're brought up on tales of Kerry exceptionalism.
Every Kerry manager has had to deal with heat from within his own county's borders in the lean times.
It was the late Páidí Ó Sé who called Kerry supporters ''the roughest f***ing animals you could meet'' and who had to suffer the indignity of one such
'supporter' taking a swing at him on the sideline in Croke Park.
Jack O'Connnor, who is now in the middle of his third spell as manager, talked of receiving abusive texts and phone calls after the defeat to Cork in the 2006 Munster final and over his decision not to start Eoin Brosnan in that year's All-Ireland final.
When Cork hammered Kerry in the 2008 Munster final, Pat O'Shea - the then manager - got it in the neck.
Eamonn Fitzmaurice also went public on the abuse he received during his days at the helm.
Fitzmaurice has dipped his toes in the media world and he gave a revealing insight into the way his mind works the day after the 2011 All-Ireland final defeat to Dublin.
"People outside of Kerry think we are greedy, that it’s great for the GAA for Dublin to win an All-Ireland and that Kerry have enough won,'' he wrote in The Examiner.
"Until you understand that Kerry never have enough won, you won’t understand Kerry."
That was something that was keenly understood by Páidí Ó Sé,
In his autobiography, he wrote, "In Kerry, if you fail to land the ultimate prize, they remember.
"Individually, collectively, they remember. You'll be at a wedding or a funeral in another parish and, coming down from Communion, someone will elbow the person beside him and say, 'That's that f**ker who lost an All Ireland for us.'"
Jack O’Connor knows you have to juggle plenty of balls in Kerry PIC: Inpho
Down all the days, O’Connor has often been cranky, contrary, abrasive and always true to himself.
And he has achieved enough to allow himself to relax on occasion, sit back and take in the view - something he made clear in an interview in 2009.
Results elsewhere meant Kerry had already reached the LEague final so O’Connor wasn’t unduly bothered that they were six points down in a game with Dublin with 10 minutes to go.
“I was in that kind of mood. A frivolous oul' mood with a bit of divilment,’’ he recalled.
“There are not many games that aren’t do-or-die for Kerry so I said to meself, sure I’ll stroll down the line here now and watch Pat Gilroy and Mickey Whelan. See how the boys are handling the heat! I’d a grand old chat with Mickey. I said to him that I hoped it ended in a draw.
“I meant it too. He’s a nice man, Micheál Ó Sé had spoken very highly of him. And they deserved a draw at least.”
And, somehow, against all the odds, the game ended in a draw. Another correct call by O’Connor. Can he make the big ones again in 2025?
Kerry were All-Ireland champions as recently as 2022, but the way in which they let a commanding position slip against Armagh in last year's All-Ireland semi-final showed up frailties that have become all too familiar.
David Clifford is a generational talent. Kerry has produced more truly great forwards than any other county. Many esteemed judges believe Clifford is the greatest of of them all.
He will turn 26 next week so should just be coming into his prime but, when he was blowing minor defences to pieces, did anyone think he'd have just one All-Ireland to show for his first seven senior seasons with Kerry?
Getting over the line at the business end has been tougher for Kerry in this era than in a long time.
Consider this: Clifford has won two Footballer of the Year awards and a Young Player of the Year gong. He has five All Stars.
But, again, Clifford has just one All-Ireland medal. The team haven't matched his individual brilliance.
It's something that Moynihan would recognise from his own career.
He would finish his time in the green and gold with four All-Ireland medals but he didn't lift Sam Maguire until his sixth season in green and gold.
"People say when you're younger that there's less pressure, but for big games it's always there,'' he recalled.
"My first All Ireland was 1997 against Mayo and there was a lot of pressure on Kerry to deliver then.
"Mayo had beaten us the previous year in the semi and Kerry hadn't won an All Ireland in 11 years. We were expected to go up to Croke Park and come back with awards.”
That expectation is still there. As relentless as the rain on the Reeks in winter.