Former Brisbane senior coach and current Collingwood assistant Justin Leppitsch has played a straight bat in his response to potentially returning to a top job in the AFL.
Leppitsch last held his post at Brisbane in 2016, a stint that spanned three seasons before he was sacked by the Lions with a record of 14 wins from 66 games.
The three-time premiership Lion has been influential in his roles with Richmond and Collingwood since seeing his spell with Brisbane come to an end, working across the Tigers' golden spell from 2017 to 2020.
After a year away from top flight football, Leppitsch returned as an assistant at Collingwood to work alongside fellow Brisbane champion Craig McRae.
Just like the Tigers' rise in 2017, the Magpies flew up the ladder under the watch of coaches Leppitsch, who was accompanied by McRae, Brendon Bolton and Hayden Skipworth this year.
Now continuing to strengthen his coaching CV after falling out of favour at his former club six years ago, Leppitsch would again be a hot commodity should he look to return to the senior coaching landscape.
Speaking on SEN, Leppitsch played down the chance of returning to the coaches box in the near future, however stated he is taking it "moment by moment".
"I think it’s kind of like ‘do you want to be married again’," Leppitsch said.
"It is a commitment and it affects your family.
“It’s not so much whether I like coaching, I do like coaching, but do you want to go through that journey of coaching, are you happy with the one you’re currently doing?
“There’s nothing yet to sway me any other way, so I’ll just take it moment by moment.”
Essendon are currently the only club with a senior coaching vacancy and are the verge of confirming their next coach, with an official appointment seen to be likely by next week.
Demons assistant Adem Yze, Bombers great James Hird, Essendon champion Dean Solomon and St Kilda assistant Brendon Lade have all been put through the interview process at Tullamarine.
The door could open for more coaching appointments prior to the start of next season, with both newly-appointed North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson and current Brisbane coach Chris Fagan facing uncertain futures amid an AFL investigation into allegations of racism during their time at Hawthorn.
Fagan succeeded Leppitsch at the end of 2016 and has taken the Lions to four successive finals campaigns.
