Aidan O'Rourke: Armagh man says Tyrone loss was his final game in charge of Donegal
- Published
Aidan O'Rourke took the managerial reins in Donegal after Paddy Carr's dramatic departure in March
Aidan O'Rourke has said he plans to step down from the Donegal football manager's job following Saturday's All-Ireland SFC defeat by Tyrone.
O'Rourke took the reins in Donegal in March as he moved up from his previous coach role following Paddy Carr's dramatic departure from the post.
Under O'Rourke, Donegal regrouped to reach the All-Ireland knockout stage but he says his time in charge is over.
"I think I have done what I can," said O'Rourke after the 1-18 to 0-13 loss.
"Donegal have a lot of soul-searching to do in terms of what happens next, on and off the pitch.
"And I suppose it's time to thank the people who supported me and Paddy and the backroom team whenever we did the role. I want to thank Paddy Carr for asking me to get involved as well."
O'Rourke was combining QUB and Donegal roles
The Armagh 2002 All-Ireland winner works as a full-time GAA development officer with Queen's University and he said continuing to combine that with a senior inter-county managerial position was not going to be sustainable.
"I never intended to be managing Donegal at any stage this year. There were a lot of moving parts all year.
"It is absolutely a full-time job, managing an inter-county team. I was going to say at this level, but at any level really, at this point.
"And that's just the facts of it. You need a lot of time on your hands or to be retired to really do this properly.
"And from a pressure point of view, it was really tough from that time on.
"I have to tip my hat to my family at this stage because they have seen virtually nothing of me between trying to do my job half decently as well as trying to keep the wheels moving here."
Donegal had high hopes of beating Tyrone in Ballybofey but Ruairi Canavan's early goal following a Shaun Patton mistakes helped the Red Hands take a control which they never relinquished
O'Rourke has been assisted in the Donegal job by former Derry start Paddy Bradley, who was also part of Carr's management team.
Donegal were already effectively relegated to Division Two when Carr stepped down after only 149 days in charge following a discussion with a number of senior squad members.
After Donegal's drop to Division Two was sealed by defeat in Roscommon, the Tir Conaill men bowed out of the Ulster Championship as they were beaten by Down in Newry.
However, they regrouped to beat Clare in their Super 16s opener a month later and after a creditable display in losing against Derry, O'Rourke's side defeated Monaghan to set up Saturday evening's preliminary quarter-final against Tyrone in Ballybofey.
After Tyrone's previous struggles in this year's championship, Donegal had high hopes of upsetting the Red Hands but were well beaten at MacCumhaill Park as Ruairi Canavan's early goal helped set up a deserved 1-18 to 0-13 victory.