MARK Thompson has revealed that Essendon chairman Paul Little urged him to consider coaching the club full-time if James Hird's contract was terminated.
Thompson, the Bombers' interim coach last year while Hird served a suspension over the Bombers' supplements scandal, said Little made the approach on the night of the club's best and fairest count in October.
Thompson admitted he thought his premiership teammate would be sacked, and later that night made a speech in which he declared he wanted to remain at the club but didn't want to take "a step back".
"Paul said, 'Look, if things work out and James wasn't coaching, would you take on the job?" Thompson told the Herald Sun.
"And I never answered. Basically I said, 'When that happens, or if that happens, then come and ask me then'."
Thompson went on an overseas holiday the next day.
In November, Little insisted Hird had the full support of the club and that there had been no plan to remove him.
Thompson says that if he had accepted Little's proposition he would have felt he had betrayed Hird.
"It wasn't the right thing to do, and it's not the right thing to ask me to do, to be honest," Thompson said.
"It was very hard to predict what anyone was going to do and I know they (Essendon) changed their minds a fair bit in a quick amount of time.
"I thought they were going to sack Hirdy. But I never said to them once I would coach."
After initially appearing to be in the running for both the Essendon and Gold Coast coaching jobs, Thompson won't be working at an AFL club this season.
He recently signed a deal with Melbourne radio station 3AW.
On Friday afternoon, Hird will learn the outcome of his appeal against a ruling that deemed ASADA's investigation lawful.
