Former coach Justin Leppitsch hints at possible AFL return

Former Brisbane coach and Richmond premiership assistant Justin Leppitsch has opened up about his desires to return to coaching, but it could be in a surprise role.

Richmond's Liam Baker and Justin Leppitsch after the 2020 AFL Grand Final.

Former Brisbane Lions coach Justin Leppitsch has hinted at a possible return to AFL clubland, but says he won’t take up a coaching job in 2022.

Speaking on the TAB Inside 50 Podcast with Crawf and Quinny on Tuesday, Leppitsch, 45, revealed he’s “not keen to go back to being an assistant coach” and doesn’t currently have the “desire and passion to be a senior coach”.

He would, however, consider taking a slightly different path.

“I’d love to go in (to a club) as a footy manager. I’ve got a wide range of experiences. When you’re a senior coach, you’re a list manager, you’re a footy manager ... you’re the lot,” Leppitsch said.

“My senior coaching experience has given me a vast array of experiences in footy. I love coaching coaches. That’s one of the passion (projects) I do even now, part time ... I really enjoy that part of it as well.”

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After coaching Brisbane from 2014 to 2016, Leppitsch played a key role in Richmond’s trio of premierships between 2017 and 2020, working as an assistant coach under Damien Hardwick.

Leppitsch has swapped the coaches’ box for the media box this season — impressing as a footy analyst for Channel 7 and SEN radio — and has been mentioned as a potential replacement for Nathan Buckley, who stepped down as Collingwood coach last month.

“Will I get back to clubland one day? It’s probably more likely (than unlikely),” Leppitsch said.

“But what (role) it is, I’ve got no idea. Is it a desire and passion to be a senior coach? Not today, no. That doesn’t mean I won’t do that one day.”

Leppitsch also firmly ruled out a return to life as an assistant coach.

“I just don’t want to play that assistant coach guy that codes all the time and sits in the background … I’m just sort of probably over that,” he said.

“I don’t like saying those things because nobody should be too big for any particular role in a football club if you’ve got the strengths to do it. But just given my age and where I’m at, it’s the sort of thing I don’t think I’d enjoy.”

Richmond’s Liam Baker and Justin Leppitsch after the 2020 Grand Final.

Leppitsch said he’d be more interested in influencing an AFL club in a broader way.

“With footy, I find I’m a bit of a project man. That sounds a little bit weird. But I’m not the type of guy who’d go to a footy club, sit there — a bit like a council worker — and just get paid and tick (boxes) … I think you’ve got an expiry date at every footy club.

“I haven’t got anything in mind as far as what that (perfect role) is. Let’s say there’s a group … we’ll say Collingwood. (If they came to me and said) ‘This is a role we want you to play for the next four years; we’re at this level, we’re going to build towards that and then we’re gonna see what happens,’ I’d be in for that. I love that and I’d play my role. I love playing a role in team success. That’s really what gets to me.”

Leppitsch believes club football departments will be structured very differently in years to come due to soft cap restrictions, meaning new opportunities may open up.

“A 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.

“I actually think our assistant coaches in our competition don’t have enough experiences. They don’t get exposed to boards enough, media enough and list management enough.

“They go from literally coding games of visions and talking only to players to all this other external noise, and then they realise, ‘Man, I wish I had learned all this stuff before I got to (be a senior coach)’.

“There’s a lot of growth in teaching assistants the other parts of (the job) as well.”

“What I love about the modern day AFL coach ... you look at Chris Fagan and David Noble. They’ve come from different backgrounds. There’s no perfect pathway.”

Originally published as Former coach Justin Leppitsch hints at possible AFL return