Bombers great James Hird is uderstood to have "deep down" desires to coach the Essendon Football Club again, despite reportedly remaining coy about where his future lies.
Since the dismissal of now-ex-coach Ben Rutten following Essendon's final game of the 2022 season, there has been an abundance of speculation about the possibility of Hird returning to the top job at Tullamarine.
Such a move would undoubtedly be scrutinised by some, due to the unceremonious drug saga circumstances under which Hird initially departed the club.
AFL journalist Mark Robinson recently held conversations with Hird at a private, 150-year Essendon anniversary celebratory function and believes while Hird didn't let any secrets slip about his future, he has an underlying interest in returning to The Hangar.
"The first question [to Hird] was: 'How are you?' The second one was: 'Are you going to be coaching Essendon next year?' And he's non-committal … He didn't budge, he's still considering it. [But] I think deep down he would like to coach," Robinson said on Fox Footy's AFL 360.
"What happened at Essendon – the supplements saga, the court cases, what happened to him as a person – forced him into a position where he nearly killed himself.
"So this game, does he want to go back in? Does his family want him to go back into this game and face the media scrutiny that will come because he's James Hird? Because it's already started.
"Does he step back into that pressure? I don't know the answer to that … It's sort of treading water at the moment."
In addition to Hird, former St Kilda and Fremantle senior coach Ross Lyon's name has been thrown around in relation to potentially pursuing the vacant Bombers role.
Lyon was also in the mix for the then-open Carlton head coaching position last year, before pulling out of the race during the formal interview process.
New Bombers president David Barham was recently on the record stating a "more experienced coach may be able to get more out of this [Essendon] list", with someone such as Lyon certainly fitting the description.
Seasoned coaches currently at other clubs, such as Port Adelaide's Ken Hinkley and the West Coast Eagles' Adam Simpson, may be of interest to the Bombers and could be contacted by red-and-black officials in the weeks to come.