Jim Gavin has spoken to Off The Ball about Jack McCaffrey's departure from the Dublin setup, saying managers cannot make players do things they do not want to do.
Gavin was alongside Micheal O'Muircheartaigh to discuss his career and the fortunes of his former charges.
"It is not a manager's role to talk a player in or out of anything," Gavin said of McCaffrey's decision to recuse himself.
"They all volunteer their time and, as we said, their lives are defined by the choices that they make. If they can commit to representing their county as best they can, then there is a self-sacrifice and a price to be paid.
"I meant that in terms of the social aspect of if they are going to train on a Saturday morning, then recovery is such a big part of high-performance sport.
"They need to get a good night's rest and they can't be out socialising with their friends. That is really important."
Moreover, there is the professional aspect of a county player's life that needs to be considered, according to Gavin.
"We placed huge emphasis on players doing well in their careers, and academically doing well, because they are two glass balls that cannot break.
"The one that will always come back to you is that some players will step away for career development or academic purposes. But the sport will always be there. The GAA will always be there for a player that needs to take a step back from inter-county.
"The community and the club is the bedrock of our association, and we are going to see some fantastic Championship games the length and breadth of the island over the next coming weeks."
Jim Gavin on training
While club might be the "bedrock", Gavin also spoke about the concerns from clubs about the calendars at play, with many reckoning that it would have been prudent to have club matches finish after county.
Gavin recalled the last three years of his Dublin tenure, particularly the April club activity block.
"For those five weeks, you didn't have access to players. The players need their break from the inter-county setup due to the attention that is required from them.
"The last two years, we only had four weeks to prepare the players after coming out of that particular block of club games. In 2017, we had three weeks. Four weeks is enough.
"The GAA have done a fantastic job in terms of their COVID-19 return to play. I have been very, very impressed with the leadership shown. We are up there with even professional sport. It has been very impressive."
Next Wednesday evening Off The Ball will broadcast a special inter-county GAA quiz hosted by Jim Gavin and Michael O'Muircheartaigh.
It's in aid of the Dublin Neurological Institute at the Mater Hospital, get onto gofundme/jim-gavin to donate and you could win a training session with Jim Gavin for your club or a pair of tickets for the All Ireland Football Final.
The teams for the quiz are:
Dublin: Paddy Andrews and Mossy Quinn
Mayo: Aidan O'Shea and Cora Staunton
Kerry: Kieran Donaghy and Colm Cooper
Donegal: Eamon Magee and Neil Gallagher
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