James Hird revealed that the meeting he was meant to have with Essendon, planned for last week, never eventuated.
The Bombers were keen on bringing Hird back to the club even though he missed out on the top coaching role won by great mate, Mark McVeigh.
The club great, who captained and coached the red and black army, said it's "probably it" about a potential return to Tullamarine.
"No meeting and no formal offer from the Essendon Football Club or anything," he said on Footy Classified.
"That's probably it. I've spoken to Mark a few times. He's a mate, and we speak about footy and some opinions on different players, but that's basically as a mate.
"I'm not sure what the process is, but at the moment there's nothing."
"Do you think that's it?"
Eddie McGuire to James Hird on whether he sees himself returning to Essendon 👀#9FootyClassified | Watch on 9 & 9Now 🖥️ pic.twitter.com/bYHb7ssWGF
— Footy on Nine (@FootyonNine) September 15, 2026
Last week, Hird was texted by Essendon officials and fumed over the leaked conversation that made its way into the media.
"I received a text about 6:35 pm this evening saying, 'Can you catch up for a meeting later in the week?' And then heard it on TV," Hird said last Tuesday.
"So it's a little bit disappointing that it gets leaked out before I get the chance to think about but that's the industry we are in.
"Honestly, I'm just disappointed that a private potential meeting gets out in a public place before I even have a chance to think about what I want to do or if I'm interested.
"Because when you are thinking about your future, your career, what you're going to do, you'd like to do that behind closed doors, and you should be entitled to that without the public pressure of it coming out.
"I was upset. I was genuinely upset the club had leaked it."
Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd shared Hird's frustration on 3AW ahead of the Fremantle-Geelong semi-final.
"I don't like seeing the way it's playing out. Because then he spoke after that and put a theory forward that maybe the club wants this out because maybe they don't want you, but they put it out; they tried," Lloyd said on Friday.
"I don't like hearing that because I know Mark McVeigh would like him in a role, and I would like them to sort it out. You're either in, or you're out.
"They picked their coach, so can they try to get on the same page and move forward as a football club."
