John Longmire has elected not to put his name forward for the vacant Melbourne coaching position.
The former Sydney coach, who resigned at the end of 2024 following the Swans’ humbling grand final loss to Brisbane after a decorated 14-year tenure, had emerged as the favourite following Simon Goodwin’s abrupt sacking on Tuesday.
However, according to SEN‘s Gerard Whateley, who works alongside Longmire during his stints on Fox Footy’s AFL 360, the 54-year old, who was non-committal when asked about pursuing the job on the program earlier this week, isn’t ready to return to senior coaching.
“The Sydney premiership coach has decided it is simply too soon to contemplate a return to the coaching ranks, having been out of the job basically for only eight months,” Whateley said on SEN’s Crunch Time.
“Subsequent to his segment on AFL 360 on Wednesday night, Longmire embarked on a little introspection, knowing that he would be the subject of this question until he reached an answer in his own mind, and understanding that there would likely be an inquiry at some point from Melbourne, he wanted to have made a decision in his own mind rather than stringing anyone along – and that decision is not to coach, for the time being.
“He spoke on AFL 360 of the family time that he’s enjoying out of the cauldron of coaching, and I wouldn’t underestimate how much he’s enjoying the corporate work; how stimulating he’s finding the executive role in Sydney.”
Longmire’s decision follows caretaker coach Troy Chaplin’s admission on Friday he would also not be applying for the role beyond leading the Demons through the final three games of the home-and-away season.
The news comes as former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley emerges as the ‘hot favourite’ for the job, with 3AW’s Sam McClure reporting the Magpies legend and current SEN and Fox Footy expert is the Demons’ board’s ideal candidate.
“From the noises coming out of the Melbourne board, Nathan Buckley has emerged as the hot favourite to be coaching Melbourne next year,” McClure said.
“I would be shocked if they went down the road of an untried coach. My opinion is that Melbourne’s decision was made easier by the fact people like John Longmire and Nathan Buckley are sitting there available.
“Nathan Buckley is wrestling with this inner voice in terms of whether he stays doing what he’s doing in the media or puts his head back on the chopping block.
“I can only assume there’s different levels of stress involved. Nathan is going to have to weigh that up.
“If Nathan were to declare himself available to coach in 2026, I think Melbourne would hire him.”
When asked about the vacancy earlier this week, Buckley admitted his interest was piqued, telling SEN he would ‘take the call’.
“”I would have a chat but a lot would have to fall into place to leave this position of comfort I have found.
“I expect the call will come.”
The Roarhttps://www.theroar.com.au/2025/08/09/simply-too-soon-hot-favourite-emerges-for-dees-coaching-job-as-longmire-pulls-out/‘Simply too soon’: Hot favourite emerges for Dees coaching job as Longmire pulls out
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