Caolan McDaid’s open approach reaping its reward at Termon

Caolan McDaid is a breath of fresh air on the Donegal club managerial scene.  

At just 22 years of age, a debilitating hip complaint would end his playing career.  

Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI syndrome) is the exact medical term, occurring when the ball of the hip pinches up against the hip cup.  

Subsequent surgery at Santry Sports Clinic didn’t remedy the issue to the point that might have facilitated a return.  

A second opinion was sought in London but that roll of the dice only served to confirm that his time as a Gaelic footballer was indeed over.  

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There has been some significant water under the bridge since and now, at 28 years of age, a footballer’s prime really, he’s finally helping Termon deliver on their undoubted promise, albeit in a manner he probably never really envisaged.  

McDaid - despite what he’s come through - isn’t guarded when it comes to talking football. Nothing is off the table.  

He’s an open book and the conversation segways quite comfortably as he prepares to lead Termon into an Ulster IFC campaign this Saturday night in Omagh.  

And maybe it’s that honesty and, if it’s not too syrupy a word, positivity, that has finally got Termon scaling heights they’d threatened to reach in the last number of years. 

His acquiring of the banisteoir’s bib on the Burn Road came about in exceptional circumstances. 

A lengthy suspension picked up by predecessor Trevor Alcorn - on the eve of the 2023 IFC - meant he was thrust into that spotlight.  

But starting from dot last January, on his own terms, McDaid set a very clear goal out in front of his squad.  

Four weeks will have passed before they lock horns with Derrylaughan in Omagh on Saturday night at Healy Park. 

Termon toasted their Donegal success, they really enjoyed it. But McDaid said they also made sure that the rest of the parish felt that same energy, young and old.  

“At the start of the year, the number one target was to win the Intermediate championship,” he said. “Once you reach that goal, you sort of look to savour that, take stock.  

“It was 2012 since we last won it. It was a tough slog in between. We certainly enjoyed it. And as well as the partying, we also made sure the wider community sampled that.  

“We were around the national schools and there were some personal visits to houses with the cup.  

“And listen, it’s important for the likes of ourselves, clubs like Termon, to have the younger ones looking up to the group. But we drew a line under that after those few days.  

“To be honest, getting back down to business as a group it’s a really privileged position to be in - headed back out onto the training field ahead of an Ulster Club IFC.” 

Termon have changed scenery as they look to make a dent inside the province. Again, it’s a small thing but perhaps reflective of their young leader.  

He and his management team also had the luxury of taking in the Tyrone IFC decider as Derrylaughan just about edged out Moy on a scoreline of 1-10 to 0-11, bridging a 14-year gap in the process.  

So there are real parallels there. With the shackles now off, monkeys off both sides’ backs really, Saturday night’s curtain-raiser in Omagh actually has the potential to steal the show.  

“The weather hasn’t been great. We’ve actually been preparing at the Donegal GAA Training Centre. We’re very grateful for that opportunity.  

“The pitches and the resources up there are top, top class. We have had the chance to really knuckle down and get some worthwhile work done.  

“The way it fell, we also had the chance to look at the Tyrone Intermediate final. We’d three or four weeks to prepare for this game. 

“Derrylaughan, there are a number of threats there and they’re a really formidable outfit. I’m sure they’re looking at us closely as well. It’s interesting, coming out of our respective championships.  

“They are physical, they have great movement inside. They play a hard running game but they kick as well so they are well able to mix it up. 

“There still isn’t that real familiarity, it’s new territory for both sides. And sometimes when that’s the case, the game just takes on a life of itself. And that’s exciting too for the lads.”  

McDaid and a healthy number of Termon senior footballers were present on their own patch last Sunday as the side’s senior ladies team comfortably bypassed St Macartans to make it through to the last four in Ulster.  

St Eunan’s and Errigal Ciaran top the bill in the weekend’s double-header in Tyrone and McDaid says he’s anticipates a load collective Donegal voice throughout both contests.  

“It’s exciting times. We really are close-knit, all the one club. We have the development aspect at the Burn Road progressing and our adult teams are doing well.  

“We were all down last Sunday cheering the ladies onto an Ulster semi-final. And I have no doubt they’ll be present in Omagh on Saturday returning the favour. It’s lovely that those things are sort of coinciding - progressing on and off the pitch I mean.  

“We’re a young bunch so there is great energy coming off this. Going out at the weekend, we really want to push on and progress. There is a huge motivation there. 

“Ourselves, St Eunan’s and Naomh Padraig, Uisce Chaoin, are all out next weekend in Ulster. As fate would have it, us and St Eunan’s is a double-header in Healy Park.  

“It would be brilliant to see as much Donegal support out for all three teams. St Eunan’s is just in the road so any help we can give each other, would be brilliant. And if both sides did get over the line together it would be a fantastic evening”.  

Candid, an open book really, McDaid is also gracious enough to express an opinion on how Dungloe’s progress might alter the narrative and indeed the landscape in next season’s SFC.  

“I haven’t really thought about it but, yeah, that will be something that when we do turn our attention to it, it’s another exciting step up.  

“But just in the general sense, Dungloe has been a breath of fresh air for everyone. Stepping up from Intermediate, you’d think being competitive and holding your own doesn’t have to be out of reach. 

“But for all 16 SFC teams in 2025, what Dungoe were able to achieve this term I think they will be looked at as a real inspiration. I’ve no doubt Dungloe will be referenced in a lot of initial team meetings next season.  

“What they did was set a standard, aspired to that and didn’t really let that narrative that there is a ‘Big Two’ or ‘Big Four’ seep in. There is a serious lesson in that for everyone.  

“When you have buy-in, 25 lads all rowing in the right direction, then some amazing things can happen."