James Hird says he wants another crack at coaching Essendon, but he has deliberately kept his distance from the club’s Australian Football League search so he does not interfere with it. The former Bombers coach said he has not contacted president Andrew Welsh and has not been contacted by the club.
That matters now because the discussion around Hird flared just 12 hours after Brad Scott was sacked, turning Essendon’s coaching hunt into one of the biggest talking points in the game. Hird said the reaction only grew through the week, until by the weekend it felt “all-consuming” for football.
Hird made clear he would welcome the chance if Essendon wanted him involved. He said he would “definitely say yes” if asked to take part in the search and added, “I’d love to be part of the process and see what happens.” He also said what he wants is for Essendon to run an exhaustive process and then choose the candidate it believes is best.
The hesitation is part of the story. Hird said he has been “very conscious” not to reach out to Welsh because he does not want to be “spoiling the process” or inserting himself in a way he does not want to. Welsh is a close friend, Hird said, and the two have known each other for 20 years. He also coached Welsh in his last game in 2011.
That leaves Essendon in a delicate position. Hird is not closing the door on a return, but he is also refusing to push it open himself, leaving the club to decide whether it wants to bring in one of its most recognisable former figures while the search continues on its own timetable. Hird said he does not “hope” for anything and that, if he is the candidate Essendon chooses, “fantastic”; if not, he is not.
On Tuesday night, reports also emerged that Hird had spoken to close associates and begun to assemble a group dubbed Team Hird, with names including Mark McVeigh, Dean Solomon, Brendan McCartney, Dyson Heppell, Jimmy Bartel and Michael Voss linked to the idea. But Hird said those plans formally have not reached that stage, keeping the focus on the club’s process rather than his own push. For now, the next move belongs to Essendon, and the key unanswered question is whether Hird will be invited into the search at all.
