He soon returned for a last outing as Donegal manager. He was chairman of the Donegal County Board in late 2002 but could not find a manager, so he did it himself. McGowan, Michael Oliver McIntyre and Anthony Harkin were part of his backroom team. In 2003, he led Donegal to the All-Ireland SFC semi-final. This was the last occasion on which they would achieve this feat until the time of the legendary Jim McGuinness. He left Donegal in 2005 after a fifth and final tenure in charge ended with a drab qualifier defeat to Cavan at Breffni Park. During his final time as manager, McEniff called such players as Neil Gallagher, Rory Kavanagh, Karl Lacey and Eamon McGee into the senior county team for the first time in late 2003.