MARK Thompson is set for a more hands-on role in Essendon's coaching department this season.

In his first season as a senior assistant coach at the club, Thompson spent a majority of 2011 altering the football program and helping improve the club's facilities.

But with Essendon losing experienced assistant coach Brendan McCartney to the senior position at the Western Bulldogs, the two-time Geelong premiership coach has moved to fill the void.

"He's probably just doing that little bit more," Essendon football manager Paul Hamilton told AFL.com.au.

"He was quite heavily involved last year but he has stepped up another level in terms of Brendan McCartney not being there.

"It just means that he's really working more one-on-one with the players and having a big influence on the training track."

One of Thompson's initiatives last season was to introduce a 'craft cave' at the club. The area, formerly home to Essendon's Hall of Fame, was refurbished to provide an indoor facility allowing coaches to work closely with individual players.

"He was the one who really pushed that and made it happen. He did a lot of things like that last year and had a real positive influence throughout the club," Hamilton said.

Thompson's role will not be as a line coach taking control of the forwards, defenders or midfielders. Instead, he will have an over-arching role to help James Hird's young coaching panel, which includes first-year assistant Matthew Egan.

Callum Twomey covers Essendon news for AFL.com.au and essendonfc.com.au. Follow him on Twitter at @Cal_Twomey.