Snide social media remarks, late night calls, relentless workload: The emotional toll of being an AFL coach

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Early in my tenure as senior coach at Adelaide in 2012, players would move freely about my office, sprawl across the couches, throw darts at the dartboard I had set up, and chat to me about what was happening in their day. About footy, about life, about whatever was floating through their minds.

I loved the opportunity to debrief with them about the game at the weekend, and relished the chance to get to know them more as people. The players trusted the space they were in and they trusted me.

But as my time at the Crows went on and the losses piled up – as I searched, foolishly, alone for answers to solve the problems the team was facing – the office visits became less frequent and the buoyant nature of those conversations became increasingly strained.

Before long, players had to knock to enter my office. I had closed the door on them, figuratively and literally, without even realising. Reflecting on that now, 12 years after I was relieved as the coach of the Crows, it was the clearest possible sign that the pressure and expectation that comes with the role of being a senior coach was getting the better of me.

It looked like a favourite son’s return. Then Scott’s authority started to unravel

I was shutting the people out who were trying to help me. I just couldn’t see it at the time. That’s the reality of emotional instability in coaching. It doesn’t announce itself. It sneaks up on you. You become agitated with people. Your tolerance dissipates, and your patience fades.

You become less enjoyable to be around and the positivity that you once exuded becomes........

© WA Today