‘AFL’s most sought after man’: Longmire bidding war looms as ‘rare’ reality of reign laid bare

It’s the end of an era at Sydney, with John Longmire quitting as senior coach after 14 years in the top job. And what a ride it’s been.

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Dean Cox will take over as Sydney’s new coach, while Longmire will move into a newly created role as Sydney’s executive director of club performance.

The longest-serving coach in Swans history, Longmire leaves behind a decorated tenure including the club playing finals in 12 of his 14 seasons, with one of the best wining percentages of all time (64 per cent).

That includes seven top four finishes and Longmire leading Sydney to a flag in 2012 in his second season at the helm. But Longmire lost his next four grand finals, with a 1-4 record in deciders including heavy losses in two of the last three years.

Still, Kangaroos great David King thinks that shouldn’t define his legacy, saying Longmire will ultimately be remembered as a revered premiership coach who played a key part of a largely successful era.

“There’s only two types of coaches – premiership coaches and those that aren’t premiership coaches. Once you’ve won one, you go into rare air,” King told foxfooty.com.au.

“We can be as critical from the outside looking in as we want to be, I was hard on Chris Fagan and he’s now a premiership coach — those coaches go into the rarest of company and ‘Horse’ is one of those.

“Everyone will talk about the grand final losses, but it’s still an achievement to make a grand final. We always talk about the gap between winning one and losing it – and he’s been there multiple times.

“But what a sensational effort to get a club there five times in 14 years.”

Longmire’s last appearance as Swans coach won’t be remembered fondly — a 60-point loss to Brisbane in the 2024 Grand Final just two months ago.

It came just 24 months after Sydney was embarrassed in an 82-point mauling at the hands of Geelong in the 2022 decider — marking a fourth-straight grand final loss for Longmire’s Swans in a decade after falling to Hawthorn (2014) and the Western Bulldogs (2016).

That can’t be ignored as part of Longmire’s legacy, despite how successful Sydney has been over the last 14 years.

Coaching in the AFL is demanding enough, so the baggage of those critical defeats on the grandest stage would’ve taken an added toll on the 53-year old.

“You never see these things coming. I can’t imagine the stress and pressure of being an AFL coach and being one that’s lost a grand final in the manner they did again, what that would do to someone’s psyche,” King added.

“A lot of coaches talk about going into the cave and taking a while to come out, this is one that snuck up on all of us.

“But when you sit back and look at it, you think it’s probably the right call and probably the right time. And in true Sydney Swans fashion it’ll happen seamlessly.”

While Longmire is set to stay at the Swans, at least for 2025, King thinks he’ll be “the most sought after man in football in 18 months.”

That will include Tasmania being on the lookout for its inaugural coach amid its looming AFL entry in 2028, while for any club that sacks its coach next year, Longmire would have to be the number one target.

For now though, King thinks his former teammate will enjoy a well earned rest on his farm with his brother Beau, before he’ll eventually get the fire in the belly to coach again.

“It’s all well and good being the director of excellence, call it whatever you want, but nothing replaces coaching. Give him eight to 10 weeks and he’ll start to think about coaching again,” King said.

Cox now has the biggest of shoes to fill, just like when Longmire replaced Sydney’s drought-breaking premiership coach Paul Roos at the end of 2010. The fact both were orchestrated internally tells you a fair bit about the club.

Perhaps what’s most impressive about Longmire’s run is how he transitioned Sydney out of one successful era as the stingy, tough Swans of the late 2000s, through the Buddy Franklin era, to the most recent renaissance led by new-age superstars Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner and Errol Gulden.

Taking over from a great coach and maintaining the status is incredibly difficult, as we’ve seen with greats like Kevin Sheedy and Leigh Matthews this century. It’s the sign of a truly elite coach with the highest of standards.

That same test will be put on the highly-rated Cox, though he has the infrastructure at one of the most respected sporting clubs in the country to begin his coaching career in the ideal manner.

“Footy moves on, Sydney will do what they’ve got to do today and they’ll thank Longmire and he’ll probably do a lap of honour Round 1 and still be lauded,” King continued.

“But the Sydney Swans get on with business. Five minutes post presser today, they’re charging towards their next premiership opportunity.

“Dean Cox takes over at a time when there’s a bit of room pre-Christmas to get organised again and recalibrate and chase some extra people if required. He can grab hold of this group and go put his own stamp on it.

“It’s a massive opportunity for Dean Cox. Most new coaches get the role because there’s been a sustained period of failure, but he’s taking over a team that’s made a grand final in its last outing.

“What a great time that is for Dean, it’s very similar to when Chris Scott took over from Mark Thompson. This is the sort of opportunity that avails him now.”