Even though Brennan is currently immersed in Crokes’ defence of their Dublin and Leinster titles, he is still the candidate being most talked about in the wake of O’Rourke’s weekend decision to bring his term to an end after just two years.
O’Rourke still had a year to run on a three-year term but was subject to a review that was due to be the focus of a Meath management committee meeting last night.
The Meath management committee is understood to have wanted the structure and identity of a new backroom team to be in place by last night’s meeting before they continued with a recommendation to the clubs.
But O’Rourke wanted more time to complete his work and has suggested he had two additional coaches lined up but was not in a position to put them forward at this stage because they were still involved in club championship campaigns.
Part of the review process involved a survey of the outgoing squad which granted anonymity, a point that did not sit easily with O’Rourke.
Brennan guided Crokes to their 2023 All-Ireland win and has been in charge since 2018. They have been Dublin and Leinster champions for the last three years.
He has strong Meath connections, having lived in Dunboyne for years, where he played with and managed the local club, while his father Paddy is a former club player in the county, originally from Kilberry where he now lives having moved back from Dublin.
The county’s 2021 All-Ireland-winning minor manager Cathal Ó Bric, manager of the Leinster U-20-winning team earlier this year, could be another candidate but may elect to remain as U-20 manager in 2025.
O’Rourke’s All-Ireland-winning colleague Bernard Flynn interviewed for the position two years ago and may put himself forward again, while Lar Wall, manager of The Downs when they won a Westmeath title in 2022 and a coach with Davy Burke’s Roscommon this year, may be interested. He too is based in the south of the county. Alternatively, Meath could look outside for only the second time.
Meanwhile, Mayo manager Kevin McStay is expected to have the same backroom team in place for 2025, despite suggestions there may be change.
Andy Moran, the subject of some speculation that he would join the McStay backroom, has distanced himself from that. Stephen Rochford, Donie Buckley, Damien Mulligan and Joe Canney, who replaced Liam MacHale, were with McStay in 2024.
