IN MANY WAYS, it should come as little surprise that Kevin McLoughlin’s gloriously understated career as a Mayo mainstay of the last 15 years, should segue seamlessly into a coaching role with Sligo.

The link has been long-established with Sligo manager, Tony McEntee.

When he was a coach under Stephen Rochford, they used McLoughlin as an extra body in defence, but on hand to initiate the counter-attacks. When the Sunday Game punditry crew woke up to this, they weren’t best pleased, especially after a defeat to Galway.

“I remember talking to Kevin after the Galway game about the feedback from the TV (analysis),” explained McEntee back then.

“I told him not to worry about what they were saying because that wasn’t what we were asking him to do. And Kevin is a smart fella. He said: ‘I watched it with my girlfriend and I was able to say “that’s not what the management are telling me to do”’ and therefore he wasn’t worried about it. That’s important because as a person playing a new role like that it’s going to take time for it to bed in.”

Back then, he clearly rated the Knockmore man’s footballing intelligence. A maths teacher, the logic side of him would also appeal to McEntee, one of the most direct and straight men you could meet.

New recruit: Kevin McLoughlin. Tommy Dickson / INPHO Tommy Dickson / INPHO / INPHO

When Colm McFadden left the Sligo set-up to join brother in law Jim McGuinness for his second spell with Donegal, and McLoughlin retired from playing, it was an obvious move for McEntee.

“Kevin has many different qualities that I admire. One of them is his footballing ability. He is a very capable footballer. For someone who was around 5’ 10”, and maybe, 70 kilos or something, he has carried himself well in county football,” he explains.

“And he performed at a high level for many years and in different roles. He has played in defensive and attacking positions.

“So his footballing ability, his athletic stature, he is somebody I would have been very impressed with when I coached and watched.”

He continues, “That’s the first aspect. The second aspect with Kevin is that he is not somebody who is confrontational. He is someone who thinks about it, comes back and questions, and works out how he is going to make it happen.

“He is somebody who will look at the task and figures out the solution, rather than somebody who comes with a more negative attitude.

“He’s a thinker, very good at what he does. And those attributes will be good for Sligo as we had Colm McFadden last year who did a really good job on us last year. But Colm is obviously off to Donegal.

“We want to build on that role. Colm was the first person we appointed in the role as the forwards coach. And the forwards love that. They love the extra bit of attention, love somebody who focusses solely on them, without a defensive mindset or attitude.”

McEntee adds, “While Colm did that really well, I am hoping Kevin will bring that on because he has the experience of being an inside forward, a half forward, and playing in defence. And then, maybe being able to link those roles together.

“So I am looking forward to seeing what I can learn from Kevin and what he brings to us.”