While most have finalised their coaching panels for 2015, some clubs remain on the lookout for assistants and administrators to bolster their football departments.
Sanderson told AFL.com.au his shock departure from West Lakes in October hadn't robbed him of his passion to again lead a side in his own right - he's always understood the ruthlessness of the industry.
Whether he's made to wait or steps straight back into the fold, Sanderson told AFL.com.au he was confident that an opportunity to help a football club would present itself.
"My long-term plan is to get back into the industry…that could happen in the next couple of weeks because I know there's still clubs looking for [people to fill] roles," he said.
"I haven't shut the door on being involved in the 2015 season, but whether I'm the right fit for those clubs and the timing's right for me, we'll have to wait and see.
"Whether that's an administration role or a coaching role, I think I can offer something in both.
"I was lucky in that I was able to speak to a couple of different clubs and a couple of different people who I'm close to - it's great to know that there's going to be opportunities there.
"I'm not in a hurry. I just want to make sure the next role that I grab is something that I'm really passionate about at a club I'm really excited to be working for."
Unless he joins a non-South Australian club, Sanderson will remain in Adelaide with his family next year but insisted his 'year off' would be put to good use.
He has targeted leadership and management courses at several colleges in the United States, including Harvard, as well as in London (the same sort of courses Geelong coach Chris Scott and Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson have completed).
"There's a couple of executive courses that the really good Ivy League schools in America offer over their summer, which are condensed MBA units," he said.
"Things like leadership, management, strategy, negotiation - those are the sorts of subjects that interest me.
"Also ... if I end up stepping away from footy it'll help me."
Sanderson's experience of coaching Adelaide through its two most tumultuous seasons also offers him a unique viewpoint.
In the wake of the Kurt Tippett salary cap breach, then CEO Steven Trigg and football manager Phil Harper were suspended in 2013, as was senior assistant Dean Bailey as punishment for Melbourne's tanking scandal.
Bailey then tragically died early this year, before Trigg quit to join Carlton as Sanderson prepared to mount a late finals charge.
He knows better than most just how important it is to have adequate backing around a senior coach.
"When I do get back involved I'll have a lot to offer a football department in a variety of roles - I know what support a senior coach needs," he said.
"The core business of a senior coach is to coach a team and to spend time with the players and sometimes coaches get dragged away from that.
"You just need people around you that keep reinforcing that your core business is actually coaching."
