Fair play to Jack. He's now delivering to his early promise and still has a higher ceiling I think.

Really enjoyed the interview with Jack. Had a great year and as Mike said that was my favourite moment too. When he sent the spinner up the line to David near the end. Just knew in that second that we were going to be All Ireland champions.

@Nephin the spinner up the line was surreal. To execute a pass that difficult at that moment typified the transformation of the lad.

I don't want to have a cut at previous management as they all played a part in this, but Andy embodied Jack with confidence. And that's massive

Hi, Andy must be an extraordinary person. The amount of people he encouraged/cajoled? to join in the quest for Sam is beyond the possible. Then for all to be so willing and in a good spirit. Perhaps, most of all his boundless optimism, charm, great nature,lack of pretension and a lovely family life. Thank you

Unbelievable pass to macbrien.
Took out half the kerry team .
Fair dues to Jack.

This is a phenomenal interview, so insightful. Great work yet again, Mike.

Kieran Shannon said it recently in the Examiner: "Almost as refreshing and life-affirming as Mayo’s story itself has been their willingness to tell and share it." And it"s true. Each interview we hear, be it from Andy, the coaches or the players gives us a little more insight, allowing us to piece together the full story of this victory. That openness feels unprecedented, incredibly interesting, very welcome and completely at odds with "the done thing" in the GAA in recent years. Perhaps it's just because our story is so unique,, but compare it to how little of their six-in-a-row odyssey Dublin shared, even in the aftermath when it was all over. That guardedness and secrecy really contributed to that team not gaining the affection of the wider public their achievements deserved, I feel.

I remember remarking to a fellow supporter before the Donegal game last year (a football lifetime ago) how it felt like we had no connection these fellas, that we barely knew them. How that changed over the course of this championship for the better. What assets to our county we were keeping hidden in the shadows.

I really loved Jack's point about authenticity, and how you really need to be your true self in the group if you are to.play your very best football. And how these lads were encouraged to be themselves and express themselves. To "cast away away their inbred fears of standing out from all the rest" one might even say or sing.

And the overarching theme of all these conversations has been the way the lads were free from the tyranny of failure and the drudgery of the fear of failure. Always encouraged to try, fail again, fail better and "keep swinging". How incredibly liberating that must have been for them. Even we felt it as supporters.

Finally, every time I hear one.of these interviews, as Edwin alluded to in his recent Western People column, my heart bursts with pride, to think that this is the calibre of young men representing our county. Self-assured but humble, articulate, humorous, intelligent and mature. What great role models.

How did we get this lucky?

Please, keep them coming, we'll never get tired of them.

So true Ann-Marie.
I remember watching the Dubs at the banquet, following one of their wins and Jack McCaffrey was laughing and joking at his table while Jim Gavin was being interviewed. He gave Jack a dirty look and I said to myself, Jesus if he can’t relax and enjoy tonight, when can he enjoy it. Contrast that with Andy saying it’s to be enjoyed, go out and have fun. Seemed more like a prison camp, rather than something you wanted to be part of.

Life is too short and hard enough, without the game you are devoting hours to playing in your spare time to feel like drudgery. It's clear from reading between the lines of some of these interviews, that prior to 2025/6, that's what it was starting to feel like. We knew it, we could see it and feel it.

If that alone was the only thing that changed this year, it would have been enough.

Maybe it’s a little ironic that it was the same Jim Gavin who freed us from the drudgery on the field.

Absolutely Food4Thought! James Horan did us a good turn there too 😉 along with the massive contribution he made to this win overall.

Anne-Marie I was about to type a comment about that interview and the previous interviews since the final, but you have made all the same points I was going to make.
Obviously it’s easier to be wise after the win, but it’s becoming so clear the positivity, belief, and overall the combined strength of a totally united squad which contributed to us reaching the pinnacle.
I’m thinking I’d love to be a fly on the wall for some of those initial squad meetings after Andy’s appointment last year, to hear his message and how he got everyone to buy in to his enthusiasm and energy. I’ve heard people talk of how impressive Jim McGuinness is in terms of getting his message across to his team. But after being at an event he spoke at last Christmas it’s clear that his is a different approach to Andy’s.
Rather than be an authoritarian and laying down the rules, Andy seems to have empowered the players to make decisions themselves, engendered the ultimate trust in each other, and taken away the fear. It’s such a lesson not just for football, nor for sport in general but for society itself. And to be honest it feels to have perfectly fitted in with our county’s psyche, long may it last.
Still getting goosebumps and tears with clips of 26th July. It’ll never grow old.

It’s amazing looking back now before the appointment of Andy, there were lots calling for the appointment of a northern manager.

We ended up getting a northern coach however there was many posts earlier in championship and league saying couldn’t see a defensive structure and shape and questioned this coach ability and a former Derry manager also questioned that he did not know how to coach in the new rules.

Well Mayo are now all Ireland champions.

Supporters will have views on what they see in front of them at games and management will have views on what they see in training and matches.these views often don’t often mirror .

Fair play to the management and players. They recognised change was needed after the Roscommon game and even though the improvements were steady once we got to Croke park then this team started to shine.

They tweaked the spine of the team brought in some youth to mix with the experience and worked hard on the high press.

Will a high press work next year maybe not but that’s where we may have to tweak again.

And Mayo have also shown every other county and also other sports teams how a major victory should be celebrated.the whole county part of the celebrations.