Cork have made some heavyweight additions to their senior hurling coaching staff - chief among them performance guru Gary Keegan.
The High Performance consultant will work under incumbent manager, Kieran Kingston. It's a role in which he operated previously for the Rebels in 2016 and 2017.
Also joining Kingston's coaching ticket are All Ireland-winning Minor manager with Cork, Noel Furlong and two-time All Ireland winning player Pat Mulcahy.
Ger Cunningham has stepped away citing personal reasons, while Diarmuid O'Sullivan and Donal O'Grady remain.
Strength and conditioning coach Stephen Casey has also been added to Kingston's ticket.
Keegan has an incredible CV that includes spells with the IRFU - for whom he's a member of the National Professional Games Board - and Cricket Ireland.
Famously, he helped overhaul Irish amateur boxing's high performance unit and was part of the coaching set-up with the Dublin footballers.
Former Dublin footballer Bernard Brogan hailed the influence of Keegan during the early days of Jim Gavin's reign, telling OTB Sports in 2020, "Gary talked to us about the process for the first time,
"It just resonated so well with us, Gary brought an energy and a reality to the situation.
"He’s an old boxer, he’d literally throw jabs in the talk. The way he delivered it was just so poignant, it just hit us between the eyes.
"Jim really bought into it and would be repeating Gary's words and really driving it."
Cork reached the All Ireland final this year under Kingston, but were soundly beaten by Limerick at Croke Park.
Furlong had been tipped as a potential successor to Pat Ryan as Cork U21 boss having stepped down in the wake of the Rebels All Ireland Minor final win over Galway in August.
Ahead of the confirmation of Keegan et al's arrival, Cunningham confirmed his departure in an interview with the Irish Examiner.
“After discussing with family and assessing work commitments," the 60-year old said, "I’ve informed Kieran I will not be able to commit to coaching the Cork hurlers next year.
“I sincerely wish him, his management team and the wonderful panel of talented and dedicated players every future success.”
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