Carney is a former inter-county footballer for
Donegal and
Mayo. In 2002 and 2003, he was one of the selection team for the
Coca-Cola International Rules Series. Carney was at one time the favourite to take over from
John Maughan as manager of the Mayo senior football side, but quickly ruled himself out of contention.
John O'Mahony became manager, with Carney acting as a statistician and video analyst. He previously managed Mayo's U21 football side, taking them to two All-Ireland finals in 1994 and 1995, both which they failed to win, as the minors did in 1991 also. In May 2012, the
Irish Independent named him in its selection of Donegal's "greatest team" spanning the previous 50 years. ==Professional life==