John Longmire coached the Sydney Swans for 333 games, a Swan’s record. Photo AAP.
Former Corowa Rutherglen footballer and AFL legend John Longmire bowed out after 14 years in charge and 22 on the Sydney Swans coaching panel last week.
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The 333-game coach (a Swans record) felt halfway through this year that it might be his last as the Swans dominated much of the home-and-away season before being defeated in the grand final by Brisbane, but he was contracted until the end of next year.
John Longmire returned home to John Foord Oval in late December last year to offer assistance for the Roos return to the Ovens Murray competition. Longmire is pictured here with outgoing Corowa Rutherglen Football Netball Club President Graeme Hosier and newly appointed joint CRFNC Co-President Rowena Black.
“I always thought this would be my last contract at the Sydney Swans,” he said.
He said the 60-point grand final thrashing – his second defeat in a decider in three years and his fourth grand final loss overall – wasn’t the decisive factor in stepping down.
“All I know is that halfway through the year and even before that, I was talking about it and I wasn’t quite sure,” he said.
Longmire, 53, has not ruled out one day returning to the hot seat, and looms over the coaching landscape next year.
The new club in Tasmania will almost certainly come calling should Longmire be available as it prepares to enter the AFL in 2028.
“I felt I needed to rest and stop and regenerate and it is very hard to do that when you’re coaching,” he said.
“I may have made the decision not to coach if we would have won and maybe made that decision quicker.”
Longmire will step into a new role as executive director of club performance, a gig that will see him look at more strategic parts of the club outside of the boundary and report directly to the CEO.
John Longmire was born on New Year’s Eve 1970, and no one could have imagined that the boy from Corowa, would one day coach the Swans to arguably their most successful era.
Longmire’s playing days at North Melbourne.
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.
John Longmire was destined to ultimately become one of the most influential and successful figures in the history of the Sydney Swans and AFL.
After retiring from playing football John Longmire, aged 32, arrived at the Swans as an assistant coach in 2002.
His childhood sweetheart from Mulwala, Shelley (nee Isaac) was beside him all the way. Yet to have children, John was keen to learn under Paul Roos.
As an assistant coach, John immediately showed he had the making of a senior coach one day. Fast forward to 2011 and John became the successor of Paul Roos. In 2012 he had already won a premiership.
Over his tenure, he has maintained a 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.
John Longmire is regarded as an undisputed great of our game, a deep thinker, innovative and progressive.
Longmire's departure means Geelong's Chris Scott — who began his time in charge of the Geelong Cats the same season as Longmire in 2011, is now the longest-serving coach in the league.
Dean Cox, a premiership ruckman with West Coast and has been an assistant under Longmire since 2017, takes the baton as coach of the Swans signing a four-year deal as Longmire’s successor.
John Longmire’s AFL career
As a player:
North Melbourne (1988-99): 200 games, 511 goals, 1999 premiership
1990 Coleman Medal (top goalkicker): 98 goals for North Melbourne
Five-time North Melbourne leading goalkicker
As a coach:
Sydney Swans (2011-2024): 316 games, 197 wins, 2012 premiership
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