John Maughan has stepped down as Offaly senior football manager after four years at the helm.
The news was confirmed by Offaly GAA, who thanked Maughan and his management team for their “commitment and dedication towards our senior football team throughout their tenure”.
The former Clare, Mayo, Fermanagh and Roscommon boss succeeded Paul Rouse in September 2018 after Rouse had taken charge on an interim basis for that year’s qualifiers following the removal of Stephen Wallace.
The high point of Maughan’s reign was achieving promotion to Division Two last year as Offaly made the most of the truncated format brought about by the pandemic as they beat Wicklow in Aughrim before enjoying home wins over Limerick, Tipperary and Fermanagh.
But they struggled in Division Two this year and were relegated after recording just one victory from seven games.
All of Offaly’s Championship victories under Maughan came against Division Four opposition with the exception of a 2019 qualifier win over Sligo, who had just been relegated from Division Three.
This year they lost to Wexford, who finished third from bottom of Division Four, in the first round of the Leinster Championship and Offaly’s Tailteann Cup campaign concluded with a limp performance against eventual winners Westmeath in the semi-final at Croke Park last month.
Maughan’s management team was freshened up somewhat for 2022 with the addition of Tomás Ó Sé and the former Kerry star appears to be the frontrunner to take charge, with county chairman Michael Duignan commenting recently that he had already spoken to him about the role.
“I think Tomás Ó Sé will be in the running and I think he will be interested,” Duignan told the BBC’s GAA Social podcast.
“They (the Offaly players) couldn’t speak highly enough of him.”
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