Cox to coach Swans, new role confirmed for Longmire after stepping down

DEAN Cox has officially been appointed as the Sydney Swans senior coach for season 2025 and beyond.

The announcement has been made by the club, confirming that John Longmire has stepped aside from his role as senior coach which he has held for 14 years.

However, Longmire will not leave the club. The 2012 premiership coach has moved into a new role as Executive Director – Club Performance for 2025.

West Coast premiership player Cox, who has served as Longmire’s assistant since 2017, has been appointed on an initial four-year deal.

“Our club is very fortunate to have enjoyed the services of one of the AFL’s most successful coaches and, post his retirement as a coach, have him continue at the club in a new and important role,” said club chairman Andrew Pridham in a statement.

“At the same time, we are delighted to appoint Dean Cox as our next Senior Coach. Dean has already been a great servant of the club and is well qualified and prepared to move to the senior coaching position.”

Longmire had informed the club that he would finish up as head coach in 2024 or 2025. He has now made the choice to hand over to Cox in a succession plan of sorts.

“John advised us some 18 months ago that he felt within himself that his time as senior coach would likely end at the completion of either season 2024 or 2025. The process that we have followed after John advising us of his longer-term intentions reflects our preferred approach of managed and seamless succession,” Pridham added.

“Being a senior AFL coach is a taxing role and we greatly respect John’s desire to play an alternative, but important, part in our club’s future. His decision to step down a year earlier than had been envisaged was not an easy one for him. However, I deeply respect his reasons and the way he has worked with the club to prepare Dean as his successor, particularly over the past 18 months.”

Longmire’s new role was described by CEO Tom Harley as: “responsible for identifying and then implementing strategies that underpin world’s best practise in high performance on and off the field”.