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Sport Nation
The early coaching reality check an “arrogant” Adam Simpson received
Andrew Slevison • June 5th, 2025 2:39 pm
Adam Simpson has recalled the time when his arrogance as a young coach came back to bite him.
The two-time premiership player and former captain had finished as a player at North Melbourne at the end of the 2009 season.
He threw himself straight into coaching, landing a gig as an assistant at Hawthorn for the 2010 season and remaining until the end of 2013 when he took over as West Coast’s senior coach.
Simpson’s presence at Hawthorn coincided with a charmed run for the Hawks who played finals in 2010 and 2011, made the Grand Final in 2012 and won the flag in his final season, kickstarting their famed three-peat.
He admits he may have been caught up in his own work in his early coaching days, given the talent he had at his disposal particularly as forwards coach under Alastair Clarkson.
“I coached the forwards in 2013, and it was really difficult,” Simpson said facetiously on SEN’s Whateley.
I had a really tough year because I only had (Lance) Franklin, (Jarryd) Roughead, (Cyril) Rioli, (Paul) Puopolo, (Luke) Breust and (Jack) Gunston, so I didn't know what to do.
“I just coached my way through that. It was a really difficult challenge. We were getting 60 inside 50s a week, and I didn't know what to do.
“I was there for a couple of years and I left, my first year at West Coast was in ’14. But I went to Hawthorn directly from North, and I got to do the stoppages in my first year.
“That was the most arrogant I think I've ever been, because I was so passionate.”
It was his time prior to 2013 when in charge of Hawthorn’s stoppages when Simpson felt most comfortable with himself.
He was so intent on making an impression that he’d even challenge certain statistics - and subsequently the game's leading stats provider - when it came to his area of expertise.
“I’d ring Champion Data and say, ‘Listen, halfway through the third quarter of the 22-minute mark, you gave a clearance to Geelong, but I've coded a clearance to us. Can you fix the numbers so I could actually (have that one)’,” he continued.
“Oh, yeah, (I was) just so embarrassed. So when that came up last time I went really red, because I was such an idiot back then.
“I was just so determined to be good at my particular area, and you sort of take your eye off from a coaching point of view, and that does happen to young coaches.
“You just get fixated on what you are bringing to the table, and you want to be good to the point where I was a bit arrogant.”
Simpson was asked if he wanted to give the full confession?
He avoided doing so but did provide some of the background story of what happened at the end of his tenure at the Hawks under Clarkson and Chris Fagan.
It included what he thought was a clandestine interview for the Brisbane Lions job which came after Hawthorn lost the 2012 Grand Final and prior to his eventual move to West Coast ahead of the 2014 season.
“The (stoppage) numbers were good and I had a bit of a strut, and I got pulled up pretty quick,” he added.
“I went for the Brisbane job, not knowing that (Justin) Leppitsch had already had it before it (the process) started.
“It was, ‘Oh, this is great. I've been coaching for two years. I'm ready’.
“You feel quite flattered to get asked to go for something. I didn't tell Hawthorn because it was a prelim week.
“I thought, ‘I can't do this to Hawthorn, I’ll keep it quiet’, and of course they found out.
“It’s fair to say the end-of-season review with ‘Clarko’ and ‘Fages’ wasn't as healthy as I thought. Because we lost the Grand Final. But we won the stoppages!
“So a good reality check for me, probably something you’ve got to go through, from the transition from playing to coaching to senior coaching.
“You’ve got to get humbled a little bit along the way, and as long as you grow from it, you can keep moving forward.”
Simpson clearly learned a valuable lesson from it all as he guided the Eagles to a Grand Final in 2015 - just his second year as a senior coach.
He would then deliver the club the ultimate in 2018 when he masterminded a famous Grand Final victory over Collingwood.
