However the 57-year-old changed his mind after some soul-searching during a trip to Nepal.
"I seriously considered it," he told AFL.com.au.
"I think that just before I left to go to Nepal, I probably had made a tentative decision to go to North, to be honest.
"But I wanted a bit of time to just reconsider that … a cooling off period.
"I wanted a cooling off period where I wasn't surrounded by people and had time to think, so that's what happened.
"By the time I got back, I'd just about changed my mind, I think."
Once Cook returned from his trip to the Mt Everest base camp, he found out exactly how much the people involved with the Cats wanted him to stay.
"I had people knocking on my door – some players, some coaches, the player leadership group, sponsors, directors," he recalled.
"I don't know if it was a concerted strategy, whether they ganged up on me – to be really basic – or not. I'm not sure.
"I'm assured it wasn't planned. But whatever they did, it worked."
Cook, who has worked at the Cats since 1999 and has played the lead role in turning around the club's on- and off-field fortunes, says his relationship with Geelong president Colin Carter and the rest of the club's board is now stronger than ever.
"We've got a good board, a very capable board, with lots of good, trusting people," he said.
Almost five months on from Cook's near-defection, the whole episode now seems like "a bit of a blur now" for the man himself.
"But that was a good exercise to go through," Cook said.
"It was sort of a purifying exercise, in terms of motives and inspirations and all those sorts of things, so it was good for me to go through that.
"It was a little bit stress-related, there's no doubt about that.
"But I found the support I had within the walls of the football club – and outside the walls – was really positive, and probably persuaded me in the end I think."
As part of his reinvigoration process, Cook is soon taking two months' study leave and heading to the US to a prestigious business and leadership course at Harvard University in Boston.
He flies out on the morning of the Cats' Easter Monday round one blockbuster against Hawthorn at the MCG, and will return just in time for the opening of the new Players Stand when Geelong plays its first game for the year at Simonds Stadium against Gold Coast in round 10.
"I'm simply trying to stay relevant," Cook explained.
"The world is moving so quickly, in so many areas, whether it be IT or stadium development, and it's hard to keep up.
"And so one of the issues for me is to see what other people are doing – to see leaders of organisations and see how they lead, how they operate, how they determine priorities, how they develop values in organisations.
"I really hope I will get a deep insight into what people do internationally.
"I think my major reason for going is just to talk to those people."
West Coast chief executive Trevor Nisbett, Melbourne chief executive Cameron Schwab and the AFL's new general manager of football operations Mark Evans are among the football industry leaders who have already completed the course.
And they have informed Cook that his trip to Harvard won't exactly be a relaxing holiday.
"The classes go from eight o'clock in the morning until 10 at night," Cook said. "You get Sundays off, and you get a break of three or four days in the middle.
"I've got to make sure I'm disciplined – that I don't over-eat and do exercise and I come back refreshed, as distinct from exhausted.
"I'm a touch anxious, but, at the same time, I'm looking forward to the challenge."
Cook will live in student accommodation during his time at Harvard, so he will get a good taste of campus life.
And he'll have at least one other Aussie to chat to while he's over there, as Cricket Victoria chief executive Tony Dodemaide is also heading over to tackle the course.
Adam McNicol covers Geelong news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter at @AFL_AdamMcNicol
