James Hird has put his hand up for the vacant Essendon coaching role, per reports from The Herald Sun's Mark Robinson.
The Bombers are searching for their next senior coach after the departure of Ben Rutten, with a six-person panel overseeing the process.
Hird, who coached the club from 2011-2013 and again in 2015, has reportedly expressed interest in returning to the top job after consulting with his family.
The 49-year-old took a break from coaching over the last half of the decade before joining the Giants as a part-time assistant coach, now potentially returning to the club where he played 253 games.
The Brownlow Medallist reportedly met with the selection committee on Wednesday.
Ross Lyon, another perceived contender for the job, ruled himself out last week.
Former Giants boss Leon Cameron and current Carlton assistant Ashley Hanson also baulked at the opportunity to partake in the process.
Essendon's employed committee - comprised of Robert Walls, Jordan Lewis, Josh Mahoney, Dorothy Hisgrove, Simone McKinnis and Andrew Thorburn - were said to have been left impressed by Hird's pitch.
Speaking on Fox Footy'sย AFL 360, Lewis delineated the process and exactly how levels of impartiality were implemented.
"There were candidates that I have had personal relationships with and been involved with at certain clubs," the four-time premiership Hawk said.
โYou have to come at it from that lens and I think all the panel members were really impressed by the presentations.
โHaving never been involved in that type of presentation or setting, for me it was intriguing and really enlightening. The way modern-day coaches think about football and the way it should be played should encourage not only Essendon but the rest of the competition.
โThere are certain elements of the football program, the way the club is structured, what a potential coach thinks about going into an organisation ... that for me was all new. It was stuff that you heard about, but you actually see it and then reference it in place.โ
Though Hird will be left to contend with the ilk of Adem Yze, Brendon Lade, Daniel Giansiracusa, Blake Caracella and, potentially, Brad Scott, given Essendon's implementation of said process rather than past approaches, the third-generation Bomber's familiar post may soon be regained.
He won't be only the premiership Don seen as a chance to return to the club in a coaching capacity, with former 158-game Bomber Dean Solomon also interviewed by Essendon amid their coaching search, perย The Age.ย
Solomon joined Hird at GWS this year to aid the New South Wales side and caretaker coach Mark McVeigh in the second half of the season, a role is understood to have taken on for no pay.
The 42-year-old was an interim coach for the Gold Coast Suns in three matches in 2017, the last of his seven seasons in Queensland.
Solomon has also held a past role with Fremantle, and was in the mix for the Dockers' senior coaching job, which was eventually handed to Justin Longmuir.
