Mickey Harte managed Tyrone to three senior All-Ireland titles during a golden era for the county.
Now, in his latest role as Louth senior football manager, he has brought the Wee County from Division Four to the cusp of promotion to Division One last month.
Writing in today’s Irish Daily Star, former Tyrone captain Sean Cavanagh talks about his own relationship with Harte and how his recent success with Louth comes as no surprise to those who know him best . . .
ON May 18, 2003, Mickey Harte led a senior Tyrone team into Championship battle for the first time.
I was in my second year with the county and taking on Derry was massive.
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This was before Armagh, before Donegal. Our biggest rivals back then were Derry, without a shadow of a doubt.
Sure enough, that was a tough, niggly game. Nine bookings, one red card.
Things looked bad for us in Clones thanks to Paddy Bradley. We put four different men on him but he was on fire, finishing with 1-6.
With eight minutes to go in a low scoring game, we were four points down. It looked as if we were toast.
But we dug deep. Gerard Cavlan and Kevin Hughes came off the bench and scored. Brian Dooher and Peter Canavan grabbed two late points as well.
It finished Derry 1-9 Tyrone 0-12. We'd get another chance. But did anyone watching that game think we'd win our first All-Ireland four months later?
It's nearly 20 years ago now, but Harte is still a force in intercounty football, having taken Louth from nowhere to the brink of Division One.
I was managed by Mickey in 2002 at Under-21 level. We won Ulster before losing to Dublin in the All-Ireland semi-finals.
I was lucky to make that game as I had my teeth knocked out and 10 stitches across my lip and mouth thanks to an off the ball hit in a game with Errigal Ciaran - who were managed by Mickey, which was a bit awkward!
The first time I ever met him was at an Under-21 training session at St Patrick's Academy in Dungannon. Art McRory and Eugene McKenna were the Tyrone senior managers then and I'd been to a gym session with them earlier.
So I wasn't able to do the full training with the 21s and I remember Mickey saying he didn't understand how gym work could help me play football.
In fairness, there were plenty who thought the same back then. It took another six or seven years before we really bought into it in Tyrone.
When Art and Eugene stepped down, I was in college in Belfast and I was friendly with Michaela, Mickey's daughter. We talked about the likelihood of Mickey taking over and the potential that was there.
Mickey had won minor and Under-21 All-Irelands with the likes of Cormac McAnallen, Brian McGuigan, Conor Gormley, Stevie O'Neill, Owen Mulligan, Philip Jordan etc. He was the natural fit to carry them through to glory at senior level.
We were on the brink of the greatest of times - from never lifting Sam to doing so three times in six years.
The most special to me was 2008 - Mickey managed me brilliantly that year.
I always saw myself as a midfielder, wanted to be galloping up and down the pitch like my childhood hero, Anthony Tohilll.
But Canavan had retired and O'Neill was injured and off the panel. Mickey wanted a full-forward and I was his choice for number 14. I wasn't convinced but he made me realise it was what the team needed.
It paid off. I got man of the match in the All-Ireland final win over Kerry and the Footballer of the Year award to boot. I really owe Mickey for that.
Just a year later, though, there was a turning point in our relationship.
We were playing Cork in the All-Ireland semi-finals and I was going to be at 11. It would mean I'd be going up against Graham Canty, who I was friendly with from International Rules, and I was buzzing about that challenge.
The night before the game, I was sick and told Mickey in the morning that I hadn't slept and had a fever.
We agreed that I'd get some rest and see if things improved over the next couple of hours.
Mickey decided to go with Tommy McGuigan and I came on with 20 minutes to go. I wasn't anywhere near full power, it would be Cork's day.
A few months later, Mickey brought out a book and I was at my wife, Fionnuala's, parents house one Sunday for lunch.
Her father, Charles, had the book and he wanted to show me something. It was a chapter about the Cork game, with Mickey writing about the pressure getting to me. I was shocked and angry and felt betrayed by someone who, up to that point, I felt a strong bond with.
I'm also a very stubborn man at times - like Mickey - and I knew it was going to be difficult for me to make peace with it.
We met up and agreed to park it for the betterment of Tyrone but our relationship was never the same again.
We shared highs and lows over the years and, when I reflect now, there were more highs.
I'll always be grateful to him for what he did in 2008, especially and also for encouraging me to turn down an Aussie Rules contract three years earlier - a decision I've never regretted.
Unfortunately, we have never spoken since I played my last game for Tyrone in 2017.
When he eventually walked away from his beloved home county, few expected him to crop up somewhere else so quickly.
But the move to Louth has been for Mickey and good for them. It doesn't surprise me that he's improved them significantly.
Mickey - with Gavin Devlin alongside him - has brought structure, organisation, belief and a way of playing that makes them very difficult to play against.
They finished the League as the second highest ranking Leinster team in Ireland. That is progress.
He has united the county and got all involved to buy into what he is doing.
Two decades on, Mickey still has that ability to instill belief and motivation. It's a rare thing.
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