GEORGIE PARKER: James Hird is not the coach Essendon need to revive ailing AFL club

During Essendon’s 30-point loss to West Coast I saw a Bombers fan holding up a sign that simply read: “Bring. Back. Hird.”

Every social media post about the Bombers’ vacant coaching position has the same sentiment, repeated hundreds of times by supporters convinced there is only one man for the job.

Maybe I’m missing something. Because I don’t get why.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand what Hird means to Essendon. He is one of the greatest players in the club’s history, a Brownlow Medallist, a premiership captain and a figure synonymous with the last taste of success the club had. But does that automatically make him the answer?

Every club has legends and champions who helped define an era. Yet few fan bases seem quite as determined to relive the past as Essendon supporters do whenever the club finds itself in trouble.

The same thing happened before Brad Scott was appointed. The conversation around the coaching vacancy quickly became less about identifying the best candidate and more about reviving a fairy tale. That’s what puzzles me.

Because, if Essendon appoints Hird, they aren’t appointing the captain of the 2000 premiership side or the Brownlow Medallist. They’re appointing a coach, with minimal coaching experience in the modern AFL

After all these years, perhaps the Bombers’ biggest challenge isn’t finding the right coach, maybe it’s finally being willing to stop looking in the rear view mirror for answers back in the year 2000.

Objectively, if you were to judge him on his resume, Hird’s coaching credentials simply don’t stack up against some of the other candidates likely to be available. And surely, even a die hard supporter can’t deny that.

The drug saga is an unavoidable part of Hird’s coaching story, but even putting that to one side, he hasn’t been the senior figure driving an AFL football program in more than a decade.

Football has changed enormously in that time, and will continue to. The rules, the game style and the way clubs operate and how coaches coach have all evolved. So, shouldn’t Essendon be searching for the best coach available rather than the most romantic option?

Adam Simpson is available - a premiership coach. Ken Hinkley is available, and while he doesn’t boast premiership success he did lead one of the most consistently competitive teams for 13 years.

While I personally think someone with senior coaching experience should take the reins of Essendon given the pressure attached to the role, there are also so many highly regarded assistants across the league, who have spent years learning under successful coaches and preparing for their own opportunity.

Yet, like clockwork with this clubs fan base, so much of the discussion keeps drifting back to one man because of what he once represented.

The AFL has always had a tendency to put people on pedestals. We hold onto great players long after they retire and often assume coaching success is simply an extension of playing greatness. History tells us, though, that isn’t necessarily true.

Being an AFL legend and being the right coach for a football club are two completely different things. You only have to look across town to Carlton to see how sad and disappointing that can end up for all involved.

What would concern me if I were an Essendon supporter, though, is the message all this noise sends to potential candidates. If you’re a proven coach or an ambitious assistant considering the role, would you feel genuinely wanted?

Or do you feel like supporters have already decided who should get the job before the process has even begun and already hoping you fail to prove themselves right.

Hinkley has already said the job is as good as Hird’s, meaning other vastly more experienced coaches, like John Longmire or even Nathan Buckley, may not apply or seriously consider any approaches from the club for them to do so.

The moment a fan base starts viewing every candidate through the lens of, “He’s not James Hird,” there’s this impossible standard that no one except Hird himself can meet.

Hird will always be not just an Essendon great, but an AFL great. Nothing changes that. But Essendon aren’t searching for a club legend, those positions are already filled. They’re searching for the person best equipped to drag one of the AFL’s biggest clubs out of a two-decade cycle of frustration.

After all these years, perhaps the Bombers’ biggest challenge isn’t finding the right coach, maybe it’s finally being willing to stop looking in the rear view mirror for answers back in the year 2000.