Adam Simpson has firmly ruled himself out of contention for the Essendon coaching position, putting an end to speculation linking him with the role. The former West Coast Eagles premiership coach, who left the club at the end of 2024, has made it clear that he has no immediate plans to return to senior coaching.
Simpson's Media Focus
Since departing the Eagles, Simpson has ventured into football media, making regular appearances on SEN and Fox Sports. He emphasised that his current priorities lie in honing his media skills and assisting Carlton in their search for a new head coach following Michael Voss's departure.
"I am really not interested in coaching at the moment. In the short to medium and possibly long-term," Simpson told SEN on Monday. "If I haven't made that clear, that's where I sit at the moment."
Simpson had faced criticism for joining Carlton's selection panel to find Voss's replacement, given that he was considered a potential candidate for the Essendon job. However, he dismissed any suggestion of a conflict of interest.
Addressing IP Concerns
There were concerns that Simpson could use his position on the Carlton panel to gain intellectual property (IP) from candidates, which he might later leverage if he applied for the Essendon role. Simpson scoffed at this notion, stating that most coaching methods are similar.
"I sort of semi understand the question around that, but that's the way it is," Simpson responded. "When you present for a position, you're all in, you're not holding anything back because someone might take your IP. What is IP? For me, from a coaching point of view — and I think this works in business as well — I think 90 per cent of what we do is the same. We're all doing the same things. It's that last 10 per cent, that your point of difference, and that's more about the person."
Simpson, who also served as a part-time coaches' mentor at Carlton this year, stressed that he is not interested in stealing anyone's IP. "That's your values, your leadership style, the way you connect, your belonging — all those type of things, they're the intangibles. I'm not really looking to steal anyone's IP in that space," he added.
No Immediate Coaching Ambitions
Simpson is among a group of former coaches, including John Longmire, Ken Hinkley, and Nathan Buckley, who are seen as potential candidates for future senior roles. However, he insisted that he is not in the market for a coaching job at this stage.
"I was never going to be putting my hand up for a position for Essendon, so once I made the decision around the Carlton piece, it was like, 'Nah, I want to try to get good at this (media)', to be honest," Simpson said. "Getting some miles in your legs with the media stuff, I think it takes a bit of time to get the craft right. So I'm working on that. From a coaching point of view, I'm not really in that space to be applying for jobs and I don't think I will be for a while."
Simpson's comments come amid widespread discussion about the movement of coaching IP between clubs. He noted that many senior coaches, including himself, Luke Beveridge, Chris Fagan, Damien Hardwick, and others, have worked under Alastair Clarkson at Hawthorn before taking on head coaching roles elsewhere.
"Think about IP — everyone knows it. Everyone knows what everyone's doing. You all steal it off someone," Simpson explained. "When I went for the West Coast job, I'm taking all of Hawthorn's stuff; 'This is what I learnt at Hawthorn'. And Clarko knew that, and everyone who worked through Clarko's system took a bit of what he did. So, 90 per cent of what we do is very, very similar. I'm looking at the 10 per cent: what makes you different? That's what people need to understand: what makes you different? Because if you don't know, then you haven't done enough work on yourself."
With his focus firmly on media and helping Carlton, Simpson has effectively closed the door on any immediate coaching opportunities, leaving Essendon to look elsewhere for their next head coach.
