John Longmire gets emotional during Sydney Swans press conference

John Longmire fought back tears during an emotional press conference after calling time on his Sydney Swans coaching career.

John Longmire fought back the tears as he spoke about his family during an emotional press conference after announcing he would be stepping down as the Sydney Swans head coach immediately on Tuesday.

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The 53-year-old thanked those within the organisation and heaped praise on the players who had played under him during the apperarance but it was when talking about his family that the emotion of the moment struck.

“Lastly I want to thank Shelley and the kids,” Longmire said.

“It’s a bit of an interesting journey in the family of a coach. I’ve been lucky to do it at this club and with the support of this club.

“But I couldn’t have done it without my wife and three kids,” he said as the tears built up in his eyes.

“It’s all they’ve ever known. We come up here and none of my kids were born, they’ve all gone through school up here and now they’re sort of wanting to spend time without me because they’re trying to do other stuff.

“I really thank them for the support they’ve given me and the fun they’ve had along the way as well.”

John Longmire got emotional talking about his family.

Longmire said he had begun to question if he could see out his coaching contract ahead of the 2023 season and held talks with club chairman Andrew Pridham and club CEO Tom Harley about a different role.

“I started talking to them over the past 18 months about something beyond coaching and I’d always been interested in that,” Longmire said.

“About 18 months ago I said to them I’m not sure if I can get through until the end of next year. We sort of said we’d just see how we go and I was really fortunate this year to see the team’s progression and play some of the best football I think I’ve ever seen.

“Towards the end of this year I thought maybe I can get through until the end of 2025.

“As what always happens after any season, you take a deep breath and you go away and I really appreciate the time I was given to think it through and to think what’s best for myself and the football club.

“Whilst my head was trying to talk myself into keep going until the end of next year, my gut was saying that’s about enough.

“It’s time to rest, reflect and re-energise and probably the only way I could do that or properly do that would be to stop.”

Longmire is walking away from the coaching grind. Photo by Phil Hillyard.

While many were quick to point the finger to the club’s grand final loss as the reason behind why Longmire elected to walk away, the veteran leader said it had no bearing on his call.

“I may have made the decision to not coach if we’d have won and maybe even got to that decision quicker,” Longmire said.

“All I know is I was thinking about that long before then, I was thinking about that in discussing with Andrew and Tom during the year.

“Part of my responsibility as a coach was to make sure the club was in a good spot, that was always in the back of my mind. It’s not always just about one game.

“I learnt off one of the best in that regard, to be able to make sure you leave the place in a good spot and I was always conscious of that and I never wanted to just up and out.”

Longmire’s long-time assistant Dean Cox will now take over the club’s coach with the former Eagles ruckman signing a four-year deal.

Originally published as John Longmire gets emotional during Sydney Swans press conference