Brisbane senior coach Chris Fagan has thrown his support behind the club's General Manager of Football, Danny Daly, to become the next senior coach of the Melbourne Demons, if he were to be offered the role.
Daly is a dark horse in the race for the latest AFL senior coach opening after premiership coach Simon Goodwin was sacked on Tuesday. However, he has been hidden from the headlines due to a number of notable former senior coaches being linked to join the red and blue, including John Longmire, Adam Simpson, Nathan Buckley and Ken Hinkley.
While Daly has never led an AFL side from the coaches box - nor played the game professionally, like Fagan - he has often been viewed as a potential coach-in-waiting.
It was reported by AFL Media in July that there were informal discussions at the Lions about Daly succeeding Chris Fagan in the future, highlighting the level of respect he commands in the AFL community.
Fagan, who is contracted at the Lions until 2027, strongly supported the proposition of Daly taking on the opening when quizzed at a press conference on Friday.
"Obviously, I do [think Danny Daly would be a good senior coach]," Fagan said.
"He's been a fantastic help to me from the day I arrived here at this football club. We're like brothers, I reckon, we talk a lot about football.
"I know he's got that capacity inside him to do it, if that's what he wants to do. But that's completely up to Danny and others who make those sorts of decisions.
"I know we wouldn't like to lose him, that's for sure, but if it was for something like [Melbourne's senior coach], I would be chairing him out of the place saying, 'good luck and go well'."
Daly has been Brisbane's head of football for close to five years and has had a range of assistant coaching positions in the past, including stints at Collingwood, North Melbourne and Richmond.
He has long been lauded by his peers, including Magpies senior coach Craig McRae, who hoped he would become the next football boss at Collingwood after Graeme Wright's departure.
While no interest levels from either party have been indicated as of yet, it is clear Daly looms as a wildcard option for the Demons as their hunt for their next senior coach begins.
