In a week where GAA president Jarlath Burns hinted that September All-Ireland finals could return, the upcoming clash of Derry-Donegal in the Ulster SFC quarter-final would certainly befit a high-summer spot in the calendar en route to the finale, amid an autumnal air.
The meeting is of the Division 1 and 2 champions, with Mickey Harte and Jim McGuinness again locking horns in championship combat.
It's ten years since McGuinness last faced Derry in Ulster; Donegal edging the Celtic Park encounter by a goal. Close to 16,000 were in attendance to see Leo McLoone raise a vital green flag. McGuinness' side would go on to regain Ulster and then orchestrate an ambush of Dublin that propelled them to an All-Ireland final appearance. In a dour decider, Kerry scraped home as Donegal were unable to conjure up another gameplan that would have gone down in the annals.
A few weeks later McGuinness stepped down as manager. The announcement came late on a Friday night. After the loss to Kerry it was expected that the Glenties man would walk away. Jimmy certainly won more than a few matches: three Ulsters and an All-Ireland in four years speaks for the impact he made.
Prior to that he guided the county Under-21 side to provincial glory. Success, however, came with the perception of 'defensive football' and bodies behind the ball, rightly or wrongly, being attached to McGuinness’ strategy. Not that McGuinness gave a toss.
After he moved on, Donegal remained competitive. A couple of Ulster titles were won but it's now a decade since the county took down a big gun on the championship stage.
McGuinness moved into soccer coaching with Beijing Guoan and Charlotte Independence. He signed a three-year contract with the latter but one win in 14 brought about his dismissal. He also worked with Celtic initially in a sports psychology role, before pursuing the coaching path. On his return to Ireland there was talk that McGuinness was looking to work in the Premier Division, but nothing came of it.
At the end of 2022, he completed his Uefa pro-licence. He still has the ambition to coach soccer. But for now his focus is on the other code. Last autumn, after a difficult 2023 for Donegal, McGuinness answered the call. A decade on and the hair is much greyer but thoughts of making use of that pro-licence can wait.
"I'm fully focused on this job, that's the only way anything can work, the same with soccer," he said, in a interview on Highland Radio, prior to the start of this year's league.
"Before taking the job and where Donegal were and how I ended up taking it, I just finished my pro-licence so I want to go back there someday too. And I do want to go back someday there in the future and nobody knows what the future holds and how you might feel further on in your life. And that will be a full focus then."
But on Saturday, McGuinness will aim to end Derry's reign as Ulster champions. In 2011, Mickey Harte's Tyrone were eyeing a provincial hat-trick but Donegal, under the tutelage of their then new manager, ended that dream. McGuinness would also get one over Harte in the in the '12 and '13 Ulster campaigns.
Where Tyrone had reigned in the noughties, Donegal were now the standard bearers in the province. McGuinness was an innovator back then, somebody worth listening to, whether you agreed with his philosophy or not. His approach did have an impact on the game but in each of the years he was in charge he did tweak things. Donegal had to be a bit more cavalier in their All-Ireland year of 2012. They were that. Then came the applause for the way Dublin were dealt with two years later.
In his second coming, McGuinness has returned to a game where possession is more highly coveted than ever, and many observers are of the opinion that the rules lend themselves to risk-averse tactics.
"In possession football, you are pushing 13, 14, 15 players on. The counter-balance to that is that if you lose it then you are in big, big trouble, so you cannot allow a transitional moment.
"Even now when you do get the turnover, you’re probably not going to get up the field the way you want to get up the field because of that dynamic.
"Possession football is then kind of dictating dynamics."
Because of that, it's more difficult for McGuinness' innovations in this his second coming to solely influence the game. That said, in tight contests how one tweaks their own gameplan will be key especially in a province like Ulster. So far this year Donegal have applied the risky high-press strategy to good effect and it was the launchpad for them to kick some high scores during the league.
However, such risky business could be capitalised upon by the athleticism of Derry's hard runners as Dublin in that epic league final found out.
McGuinness has Donegal back winning trophies and on Easter Sunday they landed the Division 2 title when accounting for Armagh by the bare minimum. They withstood a late rally from Kieran McGeeney's side in a game where Patrick McBrearty, Ryan McHugh, Eoghan Bán Gallagher and Brendan McCole were absent because of injury.
The likes of Caolan McGonagle, Oisin Gallen, Jason McGee, Niall O’Donnell and Aaron Doherty all showed well during the league, reinforcing McGuinness' desire to have two players for every position on the field.
Donegal are in a happier place now. Derry are further on in their development and are now genuine Sam Maguire contenders.
Given the championship structure, defeat for either side on Saturday evening should not derail their summer given that both will begin the All-Ireland round-robin phase in a month's time.
For McGuinness and Donegal, however, testing themselves against Mickey Harte's men will be a good barometer as to where they're at just seven months into the project.
It may not end up a blockbuster on the banks of the Foyle but seeing what Jimmy unearths in his quest to get another championship win over Harte will be of interest, where he can find that little edge.
This is this first real test in his second coming. What can McGuinness do to limit the impact the likes of Conor Glass, Brendan Rogers, Chrissy McKaigue, Shane McGuigan, Ethan Doherty, Gareth McKinless and Eoin McEvoy will no doubt want to exert at Celtic Park?
Something for pundits on The Sunday Game and beyond to talk about other than the worth of the current provincial structure.
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