Racing
League
Rugby
Cricket
Golf
Motorsport
Combat Sports
Football
Netball
Basketball
Other Sports
Sport Nation
How to tune into Sport NationThe inside story of how Hird originally landed Essendon job
Jack Elliott • October 11th, 2025 7:44 pm
It was one of the most talked about coaching jobs in AFL history, and a job which almost didn’t happen.
Slumping into the bottom four after a 98-point demolition at the hands of Collingwood with two rounds to go in the 2010 season, the Bombers were on their knees.
So with significant change on the horizon, Essendon's Chairman David Evans turned his focus to a club legend... James Hird.
“I hadn’t had any thought of coaching the football club, but received a call on the Monday after that from David Evans. Would I come and see him and consider potentially coaching Essendon?” Hird said on AFL Trade Radio.
“I said I won’t. I don’t want to talk to you because you’ve obviously got a coach, and I think one of the things that you can’t be involved in is talking about coaching when there’s a current coach. I think that’s a bad thing to do.”
After just starting a new job at his sports marketing business Gemba, the thought of taking the reins at the place where he etched his name into history was the last thing on his mind.
“We had discussions for longer and longer and I was basically saying, ‘I’d love to do it, but I just don’t think I can with my work’.”
Hird also admitted it was difficult to keep discussions under wraps, with his name heavily associated with the Bombers’ top job during the season.
“I kept getting questions. I was working on On The Couch then with Mike (Sheahan) and Gerard (Healy) and they kept asking me every second Monday would I do it and I kept saying 'No', because I legitimately didn’t think I would.
“It wasn’t until the last On The Couch that I said I wouldn’t do it that I actually wasn’t really telling the truth.
“I didn’t genuinely lie about it, but you can’t say yes or no in the media unless everything is tied up.
“Gerard (knew) a little bit, but Mike knew something.”
With confidence growing, but no certainty about their next coach, the Bombers took action at the end of the season, relieving Matthew Knights of his coaching duties with two years to run on his contract.
Hird would be appointed head coach a month later, marking the beginning of his coaching career.
But even with the eventual success with Hird, Essendon still had their sights on another huge addition.
Only weeks after guiding Geelong to another preliminary final, Essendon legend Mark ‘Bomber’ Thompson became the number one target to assist Hird.
“I sat down with David and Paul Little and spoke about how they’d love ‘Bomber’ Thompson to come as well. I said there’s no chance,” Hird said.
But it turned out there was a chance.
“One day Bomber just turned up (to training) in his car, jumped over the fence and said ‘yep, I’m here. Let’s get into it’," Hird added.
“That’s how we knew Bomber was starting.”
It didn’t take long for Hird to make an impact, picking up Bombers great Dyson Heppell in the 2010 draft, before guiding his side back into the finals in his first season at the helm.
Hird would also go on to be the subject of significant controversy, most notably with the infamous Essendon supplements saga, but does not regret taking the job.
“The controversies were very hard to handle. I maybe would’ve appointed different people.”
