PADDY Tally’s time in charge of Derry is set to end after just one season, The Irish News understands.
The Galbally man took over from his former boss Mickey Harte after a lengthy search by the Oak Leaf county board last autumn.
It was four months from Harte stood down on July 8 until Tally was appointed on November 13, leaving Derry behind the 8-ball from early on.
Having won the Division One title under Harte, they were relegated this spring with just a solitary draw against Galway to their name.
Donegal overcame them in the Ulster Championship opener but having been drawn in the so-called ‘group of death’, Derry put up much-improved performances in the All-Ireland series.
A late comeback fell short against Armagh before they led Galway until the death in a Celtic Park draw. Facing Dublin in Newry, they took it to the wire in a four-point defeat that ultimately ended their year.
The bare facts of Tally’s reign were that in 11 attempts, Derry didn’t win a game, with nine defeats and two draws.
That led to a cull of his backroom team a few weeks ago in which only Paul McIver of the visible group survived.
Coaches Kevin McGuckin, Paul McFlynn and Johnny Kelly (goalkeepers) were let go along with psychologist Ciaran Kearney.
It was expected that Tally would build a new backroom team ahead of next season, but instead it’s understood he was informed earlier on Wednesday that his time in charge is at an end.
He had been appointed on a three-year term and in recent media appearances, there was no indication that he would not be in charge for the 2026 season.
It will come as a disappointment to Tally, who had hoped to build a managerial career having established himself a top-end coach over two decades.
He was central to Tyrone’s first All-Ireland under Mickey Harte in 2003, moving on to Galway and then Kerry, where he was on the ticket for their 2022 success.
Tally was also in charge of the St Mary’s University team that pulled off a shock Sigerson Cup win in 2017.
Oak Leaf officials will be desperate to avoid a repeat of the protracted saga from last year that only ended when Tally left the Kerry backroom team to take the Derry gig.
That will fuel suggestions that to have parted ways with Tally, given the lack of obvious replacements, Derry may have someone else already in the pipeline.