Jason Sherlock says he did speak with Monaghan GAA about the possibility of becoming manager of their senior footballers. However, right now, with the process to find a successor to Banty McEnaney still ongoing, he doesn't want to go too deeply into how close he came to taking the role.
The Irish News reported in late August that Sherlock was interviewed for the job but subsequently withdrew from the running.
"I appreciate there's a process going on, so I don't want to talk too much, but from a personal perspective certainly I did connect with Monaghan," Sherlock said on Monday at the launch of the Sport Ireland Workout What Works for You campaign.
"I had a think about things and certainly thought about things seriously. The process is still going on.
"From my perspective I think in the dealings I had with officials and players and former players, current people that are around the Monaghan GAA scene, there's some really good people that care about Monaghan GAA which is great and really positive for them. I just hope that things work out for them moving forward."
1 September 2019; Dublin selector Jason Sherlock during the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Final match between Dublin and Kerry at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
The 1995 All-Ireland winner, who was a coach during Dublin's five Sam Maguire victories between 2015 and 2019, says he does not have an aspiration to become an inter-county manager but the Monaghan prospect did pique his curiosity.
"It's definitely not an ambition," he said.
"Like everyone, we're all sports people, we're all interested in various sports and I'm no different in that sense.
"I think when anyone reaches out to you in capacities you'll give it due consideration. No different in my case when Jim Gavin reached out to me at the end of 2014.
"From my perspective GAA has been very good to me and I've really enjoyed it. I appreciate the value that I've had with GAA.
"I'll always be curious if I can enhance what I do but also if I can add value somewhere else I'll certainly consider those things. That was something similar with what happened with Monaghan.
"I haven't had any involvement [with any teams] really since I finished up in 2019. That's probably why I'm in a stage where I am curious and open to see what certain areas I might be able to add value. Be it in a coaching or any capacity. As it stands I'm not involved with anyone."
Sherlock added that he can see why the Dublin county board reappointed Dessie Farrell as senior football manager for another two seasons.
"I think Dessie as a Dublin GAA man has given an awful lot of service," said Sherlock.
"I appreciate the benchmark is a lot higher in Dublin than potentially in other counties.
"You can only go on the last game the guys had and I thought they gave a superb performance that day. It could have gone either way. Obviously it was an outrageous kick that Sean O'Shea made.
"From a performance perspective you'd hope there are better days to come for Dublin and obviously having Dessie there and the service he's given, you can understand why the county board went that way."
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