Alistair Clarkson is officially entering the twilight of his coaching career. That is at Hawthorn at least.
Clarkson will hand over the keys to assistant coach and former player Sam Mitchell at the end of 2022. No future role has been identified for Clarkson beyond that point.
The master coach has long been linked with a move to Carlton who are currently conducting an external review of their entire football department including the position of head coach David Teague.
North Melbourne offered Clarkson a monster deal at the end of 2020 but he declined. There also remains a vacancy at Collingwood should Clarko want to take a new head coaching role before 2023.
Clarkson has reiterated that he will be remaining at Hawthorn until his contract expires but we have seen this move before. Mick Malthouse said he'd be a coaching director when succeeded by Nathan Buckley at the end of 2011 before he walked away from the role.
With that in mind we take a look at some of the best possible landing spots for the four-time premiership coach.
3. Collingwood
The Magpies are seeking a new head-coach. And while there are no shortage of possible candidates they would be remiss not to ask the question of Clarkson. It's called doing your due diligence.
Clarkson could be tempted by the opportunity to take over the countries biggest club and turn it around after what has been a really poor 12 months both on and off-field. The board dram isn't ideal but Clarkson is no stranger to dealing with complicated boards.
He has dealt well enough with Jeff Kennett at the Hawks and while it seems apparent the duo won't be sharing a beer once Clarkson leaves Waverley Park, he never let it get in the way of him doing his job in the coaches box.
Clarkson signing for the Pies would be a great way for the Collingwood board to garner the support of the fans and members again as well.
