Immediately after his exit as Tyrone manager in 2020, Mickey took over the reins of the Louth county team and kept a hold of them until 2023.

[2][3] Born in Glencull, near Ballygawley, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, Harte was educated at the Christian Brothers Grammar School in Omagh.

In his 22 years spent there, he achieved numerous successes, including Tyrone, Ulster and All-Ireland Vocational Schools titles.

[7] Tyrone conceded only one further goal in their other four games in that competition, which ended with the county claiming the first All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) title in its history, and McAnallen would win an All Star Award in this new role.

Harte started Canavan before withdrawing him at half-time, then unexpectedly bringing him back on with a few minutes remaining and Tyrone narrowly in the lead.

[7] Tyrone played five matches in the Ulster SFC, including replays against Cavan in the semi-final and against Armagh in the final, which they lost.

[7] In the All-Ireland SFC semi-final, the county met Armagh for a third time; two points behind with only six minutes of play left and, in what Eamonn Sweeney writing later in the Sunday Independent called "the defining moment of Harte's team", Seán Cavanagh scored a solo point, substitute Shane Sweeney levelled the game and Canavan converted an injury-time free.

[7] In the 2005 All-Ireland SFC final, the county defeated Kerry for the second time in three years to win the Sam Maguire Cup.

[7] Harte deployed Justin McMahon to effectively deal with Kerry's Kieran Donaghy (a forward who had become more prominent since the 2005 final), while the half-back line of David Harte, Conor Gormley and Philip Jordan outperformed expectations and Cavanagh scored five points from play.

In November 2020, Harte was appointed manager of the senior Louth county team for an expected three-year period.

[18] In 2009, Harte attended the launch of Patrick McCrystal's controversial book Who is at the Centre of Your Marriage, the Pill or Jesus Christ?

[19] Harte attracted controversy when, in 2013, he provided a character reference for Ronan McCusker, who had pleaded guilty to rape, and Judge Piers Grant singled out the character reference from Harte as one of the "mitigating factors" which led him to pitch the jail sentence towards the bottom of the range; two-and-a-half years, 15 months in jail, 15 on licence.