John Longmire has ruled himself out of the Essendon and Carlton coaching vacancies, stating he is not ready to return to senior coaching after missing out on the Tasmania Devils role.
Longmire's decision
Speaking to Fox Sports on Wednesday night, Longmire said it has “become clear” that he is not ready to get back into the hot seat. “No, I’m not,” he said. “I certainly explored it, I went down the path, I looked at it seriously, there’s no question with that. But I’m really fortunate, I helped start a business up here 18 months ago that I’m really jumping into and enjoying.”
The Sydney premiership coach had been deep in discussions with Tasmania for the vacant Devils job until it was won by former Port Adelaide boss Ken Hinkley on Monday. Despite Hinkley emerging as the favourite in recent weeks, there was a strong view that Longmire’s desire to get back into senior coaching would see him land at least one of the other two vacancies.
Reaction from experts
The news came as a surprise to St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt. “That feels like a bombshell to me,” Riewoldt told The Agenda Setters on Wednesday night. “I said on Monday night that it was inconceivable to me that John Longmire would go zero out of three for the Tasmania, Carlton and Essendon jobs, given his body of work, his resume and his apparent desire to coach.”
Tom Morris said Longmire’s interest in the Devils didn’t match that of Hinkley or Nathan Buckley, who publicly declared on multiple occasions that he was all-in on Tasmania. “And in fairness, this is not revisionist; he was saying this to people publicly and privately for the last few weeks,” Morris said. Mitch Cleary added: “He was keeping his cards close to his chest for a lot of that.”
Longmire's future plans
Longmire, who has remained in a part-time role with the Swans since stepping down as senior coach ahead of the 2025 season, said he wants to continue living in Sydney, watch his kids play sport, and do some travel. Morris noted that some people believe Longmire withdrew from the Tasmania process, though it remains a matter of conjecture. “It’s unarguable that he wasn’t as deep in this as Ken Hinkley or Nathan Buckley. Like, they wanted it more,” Morris said.
