Former Brisbane senior coach Justin Leppitsch has admitted that he will 'likely' return to a club role in the AFL, but not necessarily as a coach.
On Tuesday, Leppitsch told theย TAB Inside 50 Podcastย that he was not keen to return as an assistant coach, and that he didn't have "the desire and passion" to be a senior coach.
But, at 45-years-of-age, Leppitsch feels he might be ready to take a different step in his AFL career.
โIโd love to go in (to a club) as a footy manager. Iโve got a wide range of experiences. When youโre a senior coach, youโre a list manager, youโre a footy manager... youโre the lot,โ Leppitsch said.
โMy senior coaching experience has given me a vast array of experiences in footy. I love coaching coaches. Thatโs one of the passion (projects) I do even now, part time... I really enjoy that part of it as well.โ
After three years as Brisbane's senior coach, Leppitsch worked as an assistant coach at Richmond from 2017-2020, playing a part in their three premierships.
In 2021, Leppitsch has enjoyed a more relaxed role in the media, working as a footy analyst for Channel 7 and SEN radio.
Despite being linked as a potential Nathan Buckley replacement, Leppitsch played down a return to senior coaching.
โWill I get back to clubland one day? Itโs probably more likely (than unlikely).โ
โBut what (role) it is, Iโve got no idea. Is it a desire and passion to be a senior coach? Not today, no. That doesnโt mean I wonโt do that one day.โ
โI just donโt want to play that assistant coach guy that codes all the time and sits in the background โฆ Iโm just sort of probably over that.โ
โI donโt like saying those things because nobody should be too big for any particular role in a football club if youโve got the strengths to do it. But just given my age and where Iโm at, itโs the sort of thing I donโt think Iโd enjoy.โ
โWith footy, I find Iโm a bit of a project man. That sounds a little bit weird. But Iโm not the type of guy whoโd go to a footy club, sit there โ a bit like a council worker โ and just get paid and tick (boxes) โฆ I think youโve got an expiry date at every footy club.
โI havenโt got anything in mind as far as what that (perfect role) is. Letโs say thereโs a group โฆ weโll say Collingwood. (If they came to me and said) โThis is a role we want you to play for the next four years; weโre at this level, weโre going to build towards that and then weโre gonna see what happens,โ Iโd be in for that. I love that and Iโd play my role. I love playing a role in team success. Thatโs really what gets to me.โ
The pandemic has had a massive financial impact on the AFL, with all clubs scaling back their coaching numbers. But with soft cap restrictions to ease in the coming years, Leppitsch believes new opportunities might soon open up.
The AFL have only reportedly been in talks with clubs over the past week to say football department caps will rise next year by as much as $300,000.
โA lot of clubs are stripping things back or changing things and adapting things. What role we have now may not even exist in a year. It may be a hybrid role," he said.
โI actually think our assistant coaches in our competition donโt have enough experiences. They donโt get exposed to boards enough, media enough and list management enough.
โThey go from literally coding games of visions and talking only to players to all this other external noise, and then they realise, โMan, I wish I had learned all this stuff before I got to (be a senior coach)โ.
โThereโs a lot of growth in teaching assistants the other parts of (the job) as well.โ
โWhat I love about the modern day AFL coach... you look at Chris Fagan and David Noble. Theyโve come from different backgrounds. Thereโs no perfect pathway.โ
