It is an unbroken line going back the best part of 20 years. In that time Tyrone have won the Ulster title on five occasions. Each time, Art McRory has been at the helm and Eugene McKenna at his side - in the 1980s, as manager and captain and a decade later as joint-managers. Both spells in charge featured All-Ireland final appearances and unexpected All-Ireland semi-final defeats. Tyrone were contenders.

Tomorrow afternoon at Clones, the third term of office gets underway. McKenna - "the shrewdest football brain that has been in Tyrone for God knows how long," according to his colleague - and McRory pitch in against defending champions Armagh. McRory had said during his previous spell in charge that it would be his last so what changed his mind?

"Don't ask me," he says. "A form of insanity."

In the three years since the end of the management's last tenure, Tyrone have slipped back as if drained by their efforts in the mid-1990s. Danny Ball, who managed many of the players to successive All-Ireland under-21 titles in 1991 and '92, found the task of maintaining their progress impossible as he dealt with waning appetites, interclub hostilities and other controversies.

In fact the situation McRory encounters is quite similar to that of seven years ago at the beginning of his second coming. Despite recent senior disappointments Tyrone have cultivated an outstanding crop of under-age players and need to blend the new generation with the old. The management's efforts in the 1990s were successful up to a point.

Back-to-back Ulster titles were won for the first time in the province since Derry achieved the feat 20 years previously. But national success eluded the team. Dublin touched them off in the 1995 All-Ireland final. A year later, when they looked an improved article and were favourites to make up for the disappointment of the previous year, a young, unfancied Meath side surprised them in a semi-final.

"I'm not sure we under-achieved," says McRory. "You can talk about games that got away but on balance, you get what you deserve.

"Without doubt 1996 was our best chance and we blew it. There's not a doubt that we were better in '96 than in '95 and there were no obvious, very good sides in the country that year. I still can't put my finger on why we did blow it. There was a sense of confidence which we tried to restrain from becoming over-confidence.

"We knew what to expect. We didn't . . . expect the ferocity of it. Once Peter Canavan was injured, the leadership factor came into it. There was no one to take on the leadership role."

This recollection raises the awkward question of Canavan's role within the team. At the height of his powers in the mid-1990s, the Errigal Ciarain forward was the most feared player in the country, but his back-up was limited. In the years since, his form has declined and the county's hopes receded. The prospects of a revival in Canavan's fortunes won't have been helped by his current injury. McRory isn't pressurising the player.

"Size was our big weakness. We weren't particularly physical, not strong enough. Looked at over the years, it's a problem. We don't seem to be a big breed of people. In the modern game you don't need many big players - mobility's more important - but you need some."

"It has yet to be seen, but he probably won't recover the sort of form of a few years ago when he seemed to win matches singlehandedly. I think he'll have an impact if he's fit enough to help us get through the first round."

Together with the over-dependence on Canavan, lack of physical presence was a widely-perceived deficiency in the team. If the former reservation was sometimes overstated - the 1996 attack featured a number of players, including Brian Dooher, Ger Cavlan and Ciaran McBride, who were in form until the semi-final when Dooher and McBride as well as Canavan all sustained injuries - McRory agrees with the latter.

"Size was our big weakness. We weren't particularly physical, not strong enough. Looked at over the years, it's often a problem. We don't seem to be a big breed of people, although the 1980s team was physical enough - maybe it goes in cycles.

"How important is it? Most county teams have a six foot four midfielder. It's important not only in the air but also when the ball breaks. Smaller players get knocked around in the breaks. In the modern game you don't need many big players - mobility's more important than size and strength - but you need some."

Whereas the under-21s who won last month's All-Ireland aren't notably big, he believes that as a group they offer a considerable amount to the future of Tyrone football. Already nine have been brought into the senior panel and seven will either start or sit on the bench tomorrow. Yet it is too early to bring forward an age-group which will largely remain together for next year's under-21 championships.

"There's a much better balance in the current under-21s than on previous teams but there's 12 of them under age again next year so it's still a bit early for this team. While the under-21 is there, it's the major target for players. Senior careers stretch into the future. But there are under-21s who could slot into the senior team and complement it, defenders, midfielders and forwards."

One unchanging feature of the landscape in Tyrone is the demanding football public. The county's unexpected defeats in the 1989 and '96 All-Ireland semi-finals were accompanied by an insistent belief among supporters that the teams were on their way to avenging All-Ireland final disappointments. McRory is well aware of the - at times - unhelpful passions which run through the county.

"In my opinion the public at large is responsible for a lot. You can't isolate footballers. They're in the community. If they keep hearing `no bother, no bother' it seeps through. A friend of mine, from Armagh, says that Tyrone supporters are the most arrogant in the country.

"Which doesn't make sense. When I was involved with the FDC (Football Development Committee of which he was a member) presentation here, someone mentioned the weaker counties. I said `don't forget Tyrone' because we haven't won a national title at senior level. Everyone just looked at me."