Longmire quits as Swans coach. Next stop, Tasmania?

The AFL’s newest club the Tasmania Devils will sound out John Longmire about becoming their inaugural coach after the Swans premiership coach announced on Tuesday he was quitting the role he’d held since the end of 2010.

Only two months after losing a fourth grand final, and with a year still to run on his contract, Longmire announced he was quitting as coach but would remain at the club in a new role as executive director of club performance. Long-term assistant Dean Cox is the new senior coach after the club’s succession plan was brought forward 12 months.

An industry source, who asked not to be named, confirmed the Devils would contact Longmire about taking on the role as inaugural coach. The Tasmanian club does not enter the AFL competition until 2028, but the coaching job is an urgent appointment.

“I am not talking about the Tassie Devils – let’s get through today,” Longmire said at his press conference confirming he had stood down as coach.

Longmire’s decision was both sudden, and a long-time coming. He said he knew when he signed his last contract that it would be his final one as senior coach, and he flagged to club chairman Andrew Pridham and chief executive Tom Harley 18 months ago that he would finish after this season or next, and the club began working on a succession plan with Cox.

During the year, even when the team was flying and a favourite to win the flag, Longmire felt the time was right to go. He finished the 2024 campaign with another grand final loss – his fourth in charge of the Swans after winning the flag as coach in 2012. The right decision for both Longmire and the club was for him to go now.

Last Tuesday he went to Pridham’s office for lunch with the chairman and Harley. Freshly back from the UK, it was his first chance to meet with the club’s leaders. Over salmon and beans he spilt the beans. He was done.

Two days after the lunch, Cox was called and was offered the job on an initial four-year contract, starting immediately.

Longmire told his players on Monday night that he was finished as Swans coach.

The pain of another heavy grand final loss, Longmire said, had not been the deciding factor in him walking away from the role.

“I may have made the decision to not coach had we won, and might have got to that decision quicker,” he said.

Addressing the press conference with his wife and kids and about 100 Swans staff in the room – including former players Michael O’Loughlin, Jason Ball, Mike Pyke and Nick Smith – Longmire became emotional in describing the bond with the club and its people. He laughed that he “sooked” at every player’s retirement announcement and was trying to control himself from doing so.

“About 18 months ago I said to Tom and Andrew, ‘I’m not sure I can get through to the end of next year – we’ll see how we go’,” he said.

“I was really fortunate this year to see the progression of the team, [to] play some of the best football, I think, we’ve ever seen for this club. And about halfway through the year this team is going unbelievably well, played some incredible football, we’re playing in front of sold-out crowds every week, the membership was going berserk – the feeling of the SCG was enormous. And I said to Tom at that point, ‘You know, I’m not sure I can get through [to] the end of next year’.

“He said, ‘Maybe we’ll park it and we’ll talk at the end of the year’. And towards the end of the year, I thought, ‘Well, maybe I can, maybe I can and get through [to] the end of the year. Maybe I can get to the end of 2025’, and, as what always happens after any season, every coach goes into a mode of, you take a deep breath, and you go [forward].

“In my head I was trying to talk myself into keeping going to the end of next year, and my gut was saying, ‘That’s about enough’, and it’s time to rest, time to reflect and to re-energise.

“I thought, if I’m going to do it [walk away], probably now’s the time to do it.

John Longmire is out as Swans coach but will stay on at the club.Credit: Getty Images

“I knew Dean was ready and it just made sense to hand over. It would have been nice to finish with a flag, as I did as a player, but that wasn’t to be.”

Cox has been part of Sydney’s coaching structure since 2017, and most recently has overseen game strategy and performance, and has been more heavily involved in list management decisions this off-season.

The 43-year-old had been a target of West Coast in their hunt for a senior coach – before the Eagles appointed Andrew McQualter – but Cox opted not to pursue the job.

He said Tuesday that when he declined the Eagles’ interest he had nothing formal in place with the Swans.

“There was nothing in place through that process … there was nothing documented. I told West Coast through the process once, and that was it,” Cox said.

In taking over a successful football program at the Swans, Cox said there would only be small tweaks to the game plan.

“Our players produced some amazing football this year, and [that’s] something we’re really proud of. So we want to make sure that we can consistently do that,” he said.

“There’ll be some little tweaks that I do differently than John, but you know, overall, it’s a well-run program.”

Harley was absent from the press conference as he dealt with a family matter.

One of the most-respected and highly regarded coaches in football, the 53-year-old Longmire coached the Swans to a premiership in 2012 before suffering grand final losses in 2014, 2016, 2022 and 2024.

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