FEATURE: Donegal’s Luke Barrett’s coaching journey

Luke Barrett coached Milford u-12s while still a teenager himself. He was Donegal minor manager by the age of 26. Just 32, he’s part of the county senior setup. From a sporting family, he’s living the dream. Michael McMullan went to meet him…

LUKE Barrett and sport have always been intertwined. He has known nothing else. Even now, sitting in the conference room of Letterkenny’s Errigal College, where he teaches, no non-sporting outlet jumps off the tongue.

He loves going to games. Always has. Growing up, he was ferried to the four corners of the county with his father Shaun Paul.

Games. Balls. Cones. Football chat.

Separately, both father and son have been the county minor manager. When Shaun Paul steered the 2016 crop to Ulster glory, Luke, four or five years older than the players, was part of the management.

There was sport on the other side. His mother Jaqueline Moore, from Creeslough, ran the Dublin marathon no fewer than seven times. You soon get the picture. Sport mad.

His sister Amber has been hammering in the goals. There was 6-3 in a final for Loreto Milford. She was an Ulster senior winner with Donegal before a soccer career led her all the way to the national team.

There’s the not so small matter of a goal against Scotland to send Ireland to the World Cup.

Brother Kane has played at all levels for club and county too. Sport was everywhere. Feedback was always honest at home. Never sugar-coated. The perfect grounding.

“I just remember going everywhere with Dad to games and he would’ve taken our underage teams,” Luke recalls of the early memories.

Two or three sessions a week. Basics. The building blocks, part of a work ethic passed down from home. If something is worth doing, there’s only one way. Tick all the boxes.

It’s less than 24 hours after Donegal’s win over Derry in Ballyshannon.

You don’t need to be in Luke’s company long to know why Jim McGuinness offered him a ringside ticket to his second coming as Donegal boss.

Chewing threw the fat of the new rules, patterns of play, the fanaticism of Donegal and a love of coaching, the words come effortlessly, enveloped with genuine enthusiasm.

In a quickfire interview with the Donegal News, seven years ago, he indicated a double sporting ambition of playing in the Donegal Senior Championship and coaching at inter-county level. Tick. Tick.

It all began where it does for everybody. The club. Coaching always interested him and, aged 16, he took over Milford u-12s.

On the pitch, he was midfield on the 2011 All-Ireland winning county Vocational Schools team. Two months later, he was part of the minor squad on that dark day in Ballybofey, a shock defeat to Antrim.

In the same dressing room was Patrick McBrearty who famously stayed togged out for the senior game after bagging 1-3.

It was a first rodeo for Jim McGuinness as county manager and McBrearty was offered a 17-minute cameo.

“We knew nothing about it all week,” Barrett recalls of an arrangement between two men he now shares the inner circle with. Manager and captain.

It was a squad that included Ryan McHugh and close friend Marty O’Reilly.

After his minor football, an ankle injury kept him off the pitch for a season, but he was far from idle.

The grá for coaching pulled at his emotions. He fast tracked his early coaching qualifications, continued coaching in the club and threw his lot in with the development squads.

Donegal’s run to the 2012 All-Ireland helped light the fuse. He remembers Donegal ending their Ulster famine and being memorised by how McGuinness almost decommissioned the Dubs in 2011.

“At that time, you were going to Donegal games and you were just expecting them to win,” he added.

He recalls how Donegal, and Neil Gallagher in particular, bossed Cork’s monsters of men in Croke Park the following year. Then there was the song and Jimmy kept on winning matches. Sporting overdrive.

When Michael Murphy hammered to the Mayo net, minutes into the 2012 All-Ireland final, Barrett was in the sea of fans on Hill 16. Woosh. A jolt of electricity on the way to Sam Maguire.

“I remember being in the middle of the celebrations, it was just magic,” Barrett recalls.

He also smiles how he nearly opted out of travelling to the homecoming back in Donegal on the Monday night. University study was all-consuming in Maynooth.

“I ran into John Gerard McGettigan outside Croke Park. He missed the 1992 homecoming,” Barrett laughs. “He said, at the time, he would go to the next one.”

It would take another 20 years. Barrett took note. After linking with O’Reilly for the team shindig at the Burlington, it was bus time on Monday morning. Destination Letterkenny. A lift on to Donegal Town. Sam was coming to the hills.

***

When Shaun Paul Barrett threw his lot in with the Donegal u-16 team the following year, Luke was on the ticket too. Doing whatever needed done. Learning. Building relationships. Coaching.

As McGuinness would later inform him, the more times a coach steps on the pitch the better. Every day is a school day.

It was around that time Barrett and Darren McMahon eyed Maynooth Fresher team as something to get their teeth into.

Out came the laptop. PowerPoint was fired up. It was time to plan. They pushed it under the nose of GAA Development Officer Jenny Duffy. It was all there. She couldn’t say no. A gig secured. It was more learning.

Fast-forward to now and Murphy approached him on board with the ATU Donegal Fresher team.

When Shaun Paul Barrett took over from Declan Bonner as Donegal minor manager in 2016, Luke was again on board, going head first into coaching.

He was in the engine room of Milford’s 2012 junior success. They were intermediate champions five years later.

By the time his midfield role helped the push to a first senior quarter-finals in their history in 2019, coaching was becoming the priority.

The playing and coaching focus is different. And there is the time factor. He tips away at a bit of reserve football but is all about coaching.

Donegal secured a third successive Ulster Minor League title in 2016 but the lights were flashing on the dashboard on championship day in Corrigan Park.

Eamonn Fyfe had hit 2-3 for the Saffrons. Jason McGee was shown a black card. Eoghan McGettigan saw red.

“We were in a tight spot,” Luke remembers. “This was when a black card meant you missed the rest of the game and you couldn’t take a man on.”

Niall O’Donnell took a hold of the game, like he did in the Ulster final with Derry, and Donegal found a way to the semi-finals.

Seven of that team are on the senior panel now but it was Galway – with goals from Rob Finnerty and Dessie Conneely – who edged the All-Ireland semi-final.

“That was my first real experience of being involved in a championship run,” Luke said.

SUMMER IN CLONES…Luke Barrett (left), his father Shaun Paul (manager), Eoghan McGettigan and Seaghan Ferry celebrate winning the 2016 Ulster Minor title with a team that included seven of the current Donegal senior panel

Antrim chinned them in the first round the following year. By the time a ball was kicked in the 2020 season, Luke was appointed as the Donegal minor manager. His father was in charge of the u-20s.

At minor level, they pushed both Derry and Tyrone without edging them out. Derry went on to win an All-Ireland. Tyrone beat them in the 2021 Ulster final with a core that added the u-20 All-Ireland.

Barrett’s mind also flashes back to the following year in Celtic Park. A semi-final penalty shoot-out heartbreak against the Red Hands.

For Barrett, his outlook on minor success is different. Silverware isn’t something to pass up. But there is more to the menu.

Like his love of coaching any team, there are the special relationships that will always remain. A dressing room bond lasts.

“I looked on the minor role as making sure players would be ready for senior county football, if they got the call,” he said.

He points to tactics, to training levels and eating plans. Even down to the use of GPS units. Familiarity, leaving senior level as an upgrade rather than a step into the abyss.

His four years as minor manager brought the challenge of the Covid lockdown.

On a personal level, it opened a door back into education.

When someone forwarded him a link to a Paul Kinnerk paper on coaching, his mind began to whirl. He’d take a bit of that.

The wheels were soon in motion towards a masters in UL, under Phil Kearney. Applied Sports Coaching, with a focus on games-based coaching. Right up his street.

Errigal College facilitated it. He’s indebted. Part of his Mondays were ring-fenced, with classes squeezed into any of his free periods.

He had time to grab a bit of lunch but it was two years of head down and forward planning.

It was a challenge, but Barrett, with his obsessive personality, goes back to the work ethic. If it’s worth doing…

As he was putting the finishing touches, his phone lit up. A message from Ciarán Meenagh. Mr Loughmacrory was steering the senior team to the next level.

Former Derry minor boss Martin Boyle had taken over as manager but they were building a management structure. Barrett’s coaching came recommended.

Between work, Donegal minors and UL Mondays, Barrett politely parked it initially. Thanks, but no thanks.

“Ciarán is an extremely persuasive character,” Barrett said with a smile. Meenagh prodded again. They arranged to meet.

“He showed me around the club,” Barrett said of their impressive facilities.

“I don’t know if it was staged or not, but there were boys in the gym that day.

“It was around October or November and I just remember thinking ‘I have to go for this’.”

He had never worked with a senior club before. It would be an important step. Now, it was a yes.

Eventual 2023 champions Trillick beat them on penalties. They had Dungannon on the brink last year until a dramatic finish. A high ball, down off the post, a poke to the net and a hard luck story.

When Donegal’s season ends, and if Loughmacrory extend their welcome, Barrett will return for a third season.

“I can’t describe how unbelievable that club is,” he said. “I couldn’t get over how welcoming they were, like I was living there my whole life.”

A brilliant opportunity almost passed up before another step towards what was to follow.

***

After four years as county minor manager, Barrett was pondering a fifth. He’d given plenty. A move to u-20 level seemed the natural step up. Until that moment.

It was until August 2023, when his phone buzzed again. The voice on the line told him to expect a call. He wasn’t informed who.

Then it came. Out of the blue. McGuinness was assembling a backroom team for a return as Donegal manager.

Luke Barrett fitted the bill. A love of coaching. Ambitious. A handle on the county’s young blood.

Plus, McGuinness had answered his call for the odd chat with the minor teams under his watch. They’d have crossed paths when McGuinness was in taking a session or two with the u-20s.

“Jim took a punt on me,” Barrett now says. “He rang me and said he wanted me to come on board. It was going to be a small management team.”

That was it. The next thing all was announced and trawl began for the senior squad that would land the Anglo Celt Cup the following spring.

“I do a fair bit of the performance analysis side of it and help coach,” Barrett said. “Jim likes to coach as well, so. you’re learning all the time; it’s a brilliant environment for anybody to be in.”

Sitting in Errigal College on a Monday, chatting about being involved with the county seniors, is an almost pinch me moment. It’s a privilege.

From watching Michael Murphy kick that cracking All-Ireland final goal, Barrett is now coaching him. His former minor teammates Ryan McHugh and Patrick McBrearty are also among the leaders.

Working with Jim, Neil McGee, Colm McFadden and Marty Boyle. The men of 2012. Instead of looking up from the crowd at homecomings, he found himself a link in the chain.

As a fan he’d always stand on Jones’ Road when the team buses snaked towards Croke Park.

DAY JOB…Luke Barrett teaches in Letterkenny’s Errigal College

What must the feeling be like inside? The same in Clones. Looking on at the minor game and hearing the motorbike sirens. The big boys. The main event. And, now, he’s on the bus.

“You’re all as one,” he said of heading towards last year’s Ulster final.

“It was just unbelievable to see the colour and the people waving on. It’s your people and it’s your community, the pride that they have in you.”

There is the responsibility of representing them. Of getting results. Inside the bubble, Barrett is a sponge for any learnings and puts his shoulder wherever it’s needed.

“I’m privileged to be where I am, to be involved with your county at any age group,” he adds.

When the bus pulls in. It’s game time. Everything else is on the outside. In time, when the season comes to a close, there is a realisation of what unfurled.

In the season, it’s full on. Sunday was Donegal’s fifth week on the bounce. Ask anyone from an inter-county setup and their schedule is pretty much the same. Barrett nods in agreement.

Game. Food. Recover. Next week’s logistics. Training. A dig into the opposition. Prepare. Travel. Play. Win or lose. Repeat.

From the days of Milford u-12s and a plan for Maynooth Freshers, this is living for Luke Barrett.

It’s not what he says. It’s how he says it. His face doesn’t lie. As a fan, he’d often wonder what life on the inside is like. On the inside, you can’t really look out.

“When you’re there, you’re not thinking about anything else other than the game,” he said.

“I know I’m very lucky to be involved. Every day, there’s some sort of learning. It’s just the relationships, the atmosphere and the environment that Jim creates. To be a part of it, it’s special.”

Donegal are in the All-Ireland conversation. Not Barrett’s words. They just are. The same last year. They might win. They might not.

One thing is certain, they’ll turn over every stone. And Luke Barrett won’t be standing back. In the search, he’s living the dream. Obsessed. A fanatic.