John Longmire set to quit Sydney Swans as head coach after 14 ...
The AFL's equal longest-serving coach, John Longmire, is quitting as Sydney Swans coach after 14 seasons but staying at the club in a new role.
Longmire joined Sydney in 2011 and under his leadership the Swans made the grand final five times.
However they only won once, in 2012, and Sydney's 60-point thumping by Brisbane in this year's decider was demoralising for the club.
It was Sydney's second big grand final loss in three years.
The Swans have called a press conference today at 1:30pm (AEDT) but released a statement confirming Longmire's decision.
He will stay at the club, moving to a new position as executive director of club performance, looking at strategies and high performance on and off the field.
He will be replaced as coach by Dean Cox, who has been an assistant under Longmire since 2017.
"I had been wrestling with the decision about whether I would coach on for 2025 since about midway through last season," Longmire said in the statement.
"The team was travelling really well – in fact this year as good as we ever have. However, even during this year … I felt in myself that my time as coach of the club was coming towards a close.
"After such a long time coaching, the week-in, week-out, really does start to wear on you. I feel that I need to step back from coaching to rest, reflect and regenerate.
"I've always been interested in the strategic areas of the club's growth, and as time has gone on, I've felt myself being drawn more and more towards this aspect. After a bit more time to rest, I'm looking forward to helping the club on its path of continuous improvement both on and off the field.
"It would have been nice to finish with a flag, as I did as a player, but that wasn't to be."
Dean Cox has had seven years in Sydney as an apprenticeship for his new head coach role at the Swans. (Getty Images: Mark Kolbe)
Longmire's departure means Geelong's Chris Scott — who began his time in charge of the Cats the same season as Longmire in 2011 — is now the longest-serving coach in the league.
Longmire played 200 games of VFL/AFL football for North Melbourne.
He won the Coleman Medal in 1990 with a tally of 98 goals, and won a premiership in his final game for the Kangaroos in 1999 before embarking on a coaching career.
He took over in Sydney from Paul Roos in 2011 and has maintained the level of consistent results at the club, with the Swans making finals in 12 of his 14 seasons.
His overall record in charge was 316 games coached for 197 wins, 116 losses and three draws.
However, there were concerns given Sydney's last four grand final appearances resulted in losses — to Hawthorn (2014), the Western Bulldogs (2016), Geelong (2022) and Brisbane (2024) — by an average of 56.5 points.
Unlike a lot of other clubs, Sydney has chosen to make internal appointments for the top coaching position, with Longmire taking over from Roos, who was an assistant coach under Rodney Eade before the latter's resignation in 2002.
Roos took over as caretaker coach until the end of the season, when he was given the permanent position, where he stayed for the next eight seasons.
The Swans will now have a permanent coach in place for the start of the 2025 season.
Cox, a premiership ruckman with West Coast, has been an assistant under Longmire since 2017 and was mentioned as a potential successor to Adam Simpson as Eagles coach.
But he ruled himself out of the running, saying he and his family were settled in Sydney.
Swans chief executive Tom Harley said the club's succession plan had largely been driven by Longmire.
"John has been helping to develop Dean over the past two years," Harley said.
"His ultimate motivation has always been the club and its stability and sustained success. We are very grateful for this and for the fact he remains committed to the club in his new capacity."
