‘I would love to do that job’: James Hird puts his hand up to coach Essendon again

Essendon great James Hird has declared his strong interest in returning as senior coach at Tullamarine, saying he wants the Bombers to be “the best club in the AFL again”.

On a dramatic day kick-started by the sacking of Brad Scott in his fourth year in charge, Hird said on Tuesday night said he was ready to “pit my wares” against the best candidates in an “exhaustive process” to find Scott’s successor.

The Essendon 253-gamer said he was motivated by jealousy in wanting to restore the Bombers to a position of strength, comparing them to what clubs including Geelong, Hawthorn and Collingwood had achieved since the turn of the century – a time when Essendon was an AFL superpower, but has long been a dormant one.

“The most important thing for me as an Essendon person, and what I want to see that football club do … is for them to go through the most exhaustive process possible to find the best person to be the coach of the Essendon Football Club,” Hird said on Footy Classified, where he is a regular panelist.

“If the club came to me [and said], ‘Would you be part of that process?’, I would definitely say yes. That is something I would love to be part of – pit my wares against the other coaches [to find] the best man for the job.

“If I’m the best man for the job, yes I would love to do that job, but If I’m not, choose the best man and let’s go forward with this club and make it the best club in the AFL again.”

Hird maintained he was better-placed to coach Essendon the second time around after he led the club from 2011 to 2013 and then again for most of 2015 – a period in which the club was beset by the drugs saga. Hird was banned from coaching for the 2014 season.

The 1996 Brownlow medallist told Footy Classified host Eddie McGuire his interest in going back to Essendon might have parallels to what motivated McGuire to become Collingwood president in the late 1990s.

“We were the benchmark,” Hird said of Essendon in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

“We were the benchmark in the AFL. We were winning premierships. We had fantastic players. We were stable on the ground.

“We are nowhere near that [now].

“I put my hand up – I was part of the mistakes that were made at the Essendon Football Club back in 2011 and 2012.

“[They] were partly my fault.

“A lot of time has gone under the bridge. I’ve suffered a lot. The football club has suffered a lot. The supporters – mostly – have suffered a lot, and I think it’s time for everyone to really kick in and try to make this club great again.”

Should the Bombers turn to Hird, a polarising figure, his appointment would have some fans dancing in the streets. But others would be raising their eyebrows.

Asked if he had “unfinished business” at Essendon, Hird replied: “You need to sell hope, and that is what Andrew [president Andrew Welsh] is doing.

“I’d probably be called arrogant if I said it was unfinished business. I’m not sure what it is – whether it’s unfinished or just “do the job”.

“What I learnt from the first time coaching, and what I’ve learnt from the last 13 years – through my life, the mistakes and the positives [will hold me in good stead].

“People say I haven’t done anything [in football lately] … Why not go and do a bit of research, you’ll see I’ve done a lot in football over the last three or four years [and it] will make me a much better coach than I was back then.”

Hird’s bold declaration of his suitableness to coach Essendon have only added to the intriguing question that emerged on Tuesday: Could the club’s favourite son really coach the Bombers again?

After Scott’s sacking became public, the Hird conjecture immediately went into overdrive. Former Hawk Jordan Lewis, who was on the subcommittee to select Essendon’s coach in 2022, talked him up.

Lewis said he could envisage Hird making a return to the senior coaching ranks. “If I’m honest, I was impressed by him. I really was,” Lewis told SEN about Hird’s presentation in 2022.

“For me, what I saw and experienced – I still think he understands the game. He presented really well.

“He’s lost to the game not being in [a] senior position.”

Club legend and then board member Kevin Sheedy strongly pushed for Hird over Scott four years ago. On Tuesday he told the Herald Sun he hoped Hird would coach in the AFL again.

“I hope James Hird gets his chance and I know it depends on who does the interview, but he would do a great job,” Sheedy said.

“He’s been wasted. He should be coaching in the AFL now.

“I hope he doesn’t go on to coach Carlton … we’ll lose too many fans, and we’re trying to get them back.

“If he doesn’t apply for it, so be it, and at least our fans would know that he doesn’t want to do it.”

While John Worsfold steadied Essendon’s coaching ship after the tumult of the drugs saga, the red–and-black faithful have witnessed a steady stream of coaches in the chair since Sheedy finally parted ways with Essendon in 2007 after an astonishing 27 seasons.

Coaching Essendon has not been secure employment.

Matthew Knights was a controversial appointment as Sheedy’s replacement from 2008, but it was the Hird and (senior assistant) Mark Thompson coaching combination for 2011 that sent spirits soaring among Essendon fans.

History shows Hird’s tenure did not go well. In early 2013 the supplements saga came to light. Hird was suspended for 2014, and by late in the next season he chose to leave Essendon as the toll of the drugs saga and poor on-field results hit hard.

“It was the board’s opinion that the football club would never be free of the ASADA scandals while Paul [then chairman Paul Little] and I were here,” Hird said in 2015.

“I’ve always cared deeply about the players. I truly thank you with all my heart.”

More than 10 years on, Hird has spent time as an assistant coach at GWS in 2022, holds a director of coaching role at VFL club Port Melbourne, and appears regularly on Channel Nine.

Just as news of Scott’s sacking was emerging on Tuesday morning, club great Tim Watson discussed Hird on SEN.

In his breakfast radio show, Watson confirmed there was “a very, very strong push from a lot of people out there to get James Hird back at Essendon, coaching”.

“Essendon people want success, they want the right person. Right now, a lot of people think that might be James Hird.”

Watson, however, also said the Bombers needed to conduct a “proper coach search”.

On Tuesday, Essendon president Welsh didn’t shed any light on Essendon’s interest in Hird.

“We are not ruling anyone in or anyone out. I am sure there will be a lot of people interested in this role,” Welsh said.