Adam Simpson has ruled himself out of the race to become Carlton’s next coach after the club approached him about the job. Speaking on AFL 360 on Wednesday night, Simpson said he had politely declined and would not be putting his hand up for the role.
“I’m not going to put my hand up for any type of role with Carlton, from a coaching point of view,” Simpson said. He added that the situation felt awkward because he has been working at the club as a part-time coaching consultant. “It’s difficult when you’re working at the club and mentoring someone. It doesn’t feel right,” he said. “When you’re working with someone and the coaching staff. To come in and try and…yeah, that’s not quite right for me.”
The decision matters because Carlton is still searching for a permanent head coach after Michael Voss stepped down earlier this month, and Simpson had been one of the more experienced names linked to the job. The former West Coast coach led the Eagles to the AFL flag in 2018, giving him a premiership résumé few in the market can match. His exit from consideration removes one high-profile option from a field that has already included John Longmire, Simon Goodwin, Nathan Buckley and Paul Roos in public discussion.
Simpson said the contact from Carlton was brief and handled respectfully. “It was a very, very brief conversation and it was a polite decline with where I’m at, at the moment,” he said, adding, “I think I said it last week, really,” and “people can stop asking me questions on it, I take myself out of contention.”
The tension for Carlton is that the search now sits between names who are openly interested, those who are not ruling anything out, and those who are already tied to other clubs or jobs. Josh Fraser is leading the team on an interim basis and has said he will not put his hand up for the full-time role because he does not feel ready. John Longmire has not ruled himself out, Corey Enright said last week he is focused on St Kilda for the time being, James Rahilly said he would be open to a conversation if approached, Craig McRae believes Hayden Skipworth is ready for a senior coaching role, and Luke Beveridge has named Daniel Giansiracusa, Ash Hansen, Brendon Lade and Daniel Pratt as coaches capable of stepping up.
For Carlton, Simpson’s decision does not end the coaching search, but it does sharpen the picture. The club remains in the market for a senior figure who can take over after Voss’s departure, and the next move will show whether it wants another established name, a first-time senior coach or a candidate already embedded in the AFL system.
