Richmond legend Matthew Richardson doesn’t think Essendon should go down the path of appointing James Hird as the club’s next coach.
Reports on Wednesday afternoon stated that Hird had put his hand up for the vacant role and may have been interviewed by the club’s selection committee on Wednesday.
Hird famously held the role at Tullamarine in 2011, ’12, ’13 and ’15 where he eventually resigned one year after being suspended 12 months as a result of the club’s supplement saga.
After spending seven years away from the game, Hird returned to clubland in a part-time assistant role under GWS interim coach Mark McVeigh, but Richardson doesn’t think he’s the right option for the struggling club.
Given Hird spent so much time away from the game, Richardson thinks the Bombers should target an assistant coach with considerable experience as that’s where clubs have struck gold in recent premiership successes.
“I just think the blueprint is clearly there now for how you appoint coaches,” Richardson said on Sportsday.
“You look at all of the recent premiership coaches; (Damien) Hardwick, (Adam) Simpson, (Luke) Beveridge, (John) Longmire, (Simon) Goodwin, they all were assistants that went through the process, they were all first-time coaches.
“That is just the way you have to do it now, even if you look at the recent young coaches that have come in that have started to have success in (Justin) Longmuir and Craig McRae this year, they were long-time assistants and went through the process.
“I think that’s just the way you’ve got to do it.”
While Richardson feels Hird deserves consideration from his former club, he doesn’t feel the Essendon great fits the category of what they should be looking for in their next coach.
“James Hird is a champion of the game,” Richardson said.
“What’s happened has happened, he does deserve a second chance and he’s got every right to apply.
“But he hasn’t been involved at clubland at the coalface for seven years now, a little bit this year.
“But footy has changed, it’s about relationship building now, look at what Craig McRae’s doing, players love him.
“It’s about really strong bonds and relationships, a lot’s changed, I just think it’d be a big, big call.
“I just think you’ve got to go through the process and find the next one of those guys I was talking about.
“I’m not sure James fits that category.”
The Age’s Sam McClure was harsher on Essendon for even considering Hird as a potential candidate given the depths the club fell to during his previous reign.
“I’m gobsmacked by this,” McClure said.
“I think James is entitled to do what he thinks is best for his career, but I can’t believe that Essendon is in any way, shape or form considering James Hird as coach again, I just don’t get it.
“It’s not as though they were flying on the field when he left, take the supplements saga out of it, I still think there’s a fair argument to say, ‘We don’t know if James Hird was a good coach or not’.
“He hasn’t been in the game the last six or seven years … Essendon has spent the last decade recovering from a shocking set of circumstances in which James was intrinsically involved.
“I just think the optics of it, James was part of the reason the club is where it is now, why would he be a part of the solution?”
With former head coaches Alastair Clarkson, Ross Lyon and Leon Cameron opting not to put their hands up for the role, the Bombers may be forced to turn to Hird or a current assistant with the likes of Adem Yze, Brendon Lade, Dean Solomon and Daniel Giansiracusa potential options.