Derry hero Conleith Gilligan was brought in for 2024, while Kieran McGeeney is obviously the main man and almost the embodiment of the county having served for them as player and manager for so many years.
Then, you have Kieran Donaghy, a Kerry legend who has banked four All-Irelands in his illustrious career, and alongside him is one of Armagh’s most loyal servants, Ciaran McKeever – although he is maybe not as well-known as the others.
Armagh selector Ciaran McKeever (left) talks tactics with manager Kieran McGeeney and coach Kieran Donaghy
McKeever just missed out on the All-Ireland success of 2002 but went on to wear the orange jersey for an incredible 14 seasons, and now, as part of the backroom team, he is still in the thick of it.
“I came in in 2003, so I was a part of that journey during the Noughties,” McKeever said at the Armagh All-Ireland Final media launch.
“In ‘08, we were beaten in a Quarter-Final by Wexford. Probably tailed off a wee bit after that. Got back to a Quarter-Final in 2014. Then, we fell off a cliff after that for three or four years.
“From the players’ perspective, we probably knew where we were. But I think as a county, we didn’t know.
“There was still that aspect when we were in Division Three – I remember when we played Donegal in the Athletic Grounds in 2015 and us in Division Three and people in Armagh telling us that we were going to win Ulster, going to win the All-Ireland, their heads were cut, like. It was far from the truth.
“But I think as a group of players, we knew that. There’s no doubt about it, it took us time to assemble a squad. Trying to assemble a squad, you need boys to sacrifice, to buy into it.
“We probably didn’t have that in 2015, 2016, ‘17, ‘18 – it probably only really started to come in ‘19 when the likes of Rory (Grugan) and Aidan (Nugent) and them boys had their hands on it.
“Stephen Sheridan and Brendan Donaghy were still there. We started to get good buy-in. Soupy (Stefan Campbell) and boys started to row in behind it and committed fully to the whole project. Then, we added players to that each year, and the thing progressed and we are where we are today.”
Ciaran McKeever is well-versed in Armagh boss Kieran McGeeney’s methods having been managed by him
Dealing with expectations has been a challenge for Armagh because despite only winning one Sam Maguire in the county’s history, the fans still see them as one of the top teams around.
Now that they are finally back in an All-Ireland Final, preparing to face Galway on Sunday and officially announcing themselves as one of the top counties in the country, it’s easy to say in hindsight that the Board was right to keep the management team on for so long.
However, four crushing Championship defeats because of penalties means the pressure is on, and some people haven’t been as willing to be so patient.
McKeever continued: “This is my fourth year. Me and Star (Donaghy) came at the same time. Look, it’s been enjoyable.
“I retired in 2017. Went down and managed Armagh Minors in 2018. I was sent down with a specific job to do, to look for missing links that Geezer (McGeeney) wanted to try and embed into a senior set-up.
“It’s probably no coincidence that we felt we were lacking a bit of pace in different areas of the pitch, and that’s probably where Pete McGrane and Oisin Conaty have come from, that’s what my job was for two years at that level.
“I came into the Senior management in 2020 with Star, and it’s been an incredible journey – from a management team perspective, we just love being in each other’s company.
“We just love learning off each other, sharing different ideas and then firing it all out there with a bunch of players that grasp all that stuff, soak it up.
“We get a lot of criticism about the way we play, but we feel that 90 per cent of teams in Ireland are playing the same way, and it’s who can do it better; who can come up with different wee scenarios in clutch moments to get across the line.
“That’s where we failed in the last three years. It’s something we really delved into this year, to look for that extra one per cent and see if we could get better. It’s probably no coincidence that we are where we are today.”
Kieran McGeeney (left) with Kieran Donaghy and Ciaran McKeever ahead of the 2024 All-Ireland Final
In May, Donegal beat Armagh in the Ulster Final, and because it was on penalties, it just compounded the misery and despair – so much so that some people thought it would be the end of the road for this team.
But McKeever said that the team dealt with it the good old-fashioned way and that it was actually McGeeney who encouraged this approach.
“Geezer let us off the leash for 48 hours,” McKeever revealed.
“We went drinking. We went and enjoyed each other’s company on Sunday and Monday. We got together Tuesday night and we were ready to go again, and this was the target, to see could we get to here (All-Ireland Final).
“Every away match, we stop the bus in some random pub and go in and have a pint together.
“When we drew with Galway and were coming out the road, we stopped the bus and had a pint in each other’s company and enjoyed each other’s time and were on the bus home again.
“People don’t see that side, but he has a really good relationship with players and, look, that’s just the environment he has created.”
It may not coincide with the view people have of McGeeney and his relentless ‘high-performance’ lifestyle, but judging by how Armagh have bounced back since that defeat, it is clear that he is the master of balancing discipline with enjoyment.
If they get over the line on Sunday, though, that balancing act will certainly be tipped, and it would be well-deserved.
Armagh selector Ciaran McKeever and county star Paddy Burns celebrate the All-Ireland Semi-Final win over Kerry