Eamon Fitzmaurice has been reappointed for another two years as Kerry Manager but Tyrone boss Mickey Harte has had a request for a one year extension turned down and could now be heading into his final season after 15 years at the helm.
Gaelic football may be an amateur game but the dedication that goes in at the highest level is every minute a match for what happens at the better paid upper echelons of other sports.
The management of team to inter county level and the All Ireland series effectively means putting life on hold, or at least recognising that life is actually all about what you do for your county.
When a Premier League manager in England is relieved of his duties there is generally the blow softening fusion of a multi million settlement.
That is not nor will never be the case in the GAA and we feel for Harte in that last year was the first Ulster title since 2010 and they came within one point of an All Ireland semi final against Tipperary.
There is an old saying that all political careers end in failure. It’s likely because those who have achieved the most are rarely able or willing to choose the moment of their departure.
It’s often the same in sport unless you plan a grand farewell in the manner of Brian O’Driscoll or Tony McCoy and get out on top.
Management is not subject to the same physical tumult as a player but in mental terms there is always a point in hindsight when departure would have created the optimum legacy.
Fitzmaurice has been given two more years to create his moment. Harte is being forced to do it in one.
