BASKETBALL is a real passion of mine. I grew up playing the sport and I still watch it very closely.

I’d love the opportunity to one day work with Brian Goorjian and the Boomers – post football, of course.

I’m fascinated by American sport and have been fortunate enough to spend a little bit of time over there throughout my career, gaining an insight into how professional teams run their operations in the US.

My wife is American and after I hung up the boots I lived in the US for 10 months.

During brief visits to the Chicago Bears, Chicago Bulls, the San Francisco 49ers, the Denver Broncos and the LA Lakers I was able to go through facilities and witness the professionalism of those organisations. It was fascinating stuff.

At the Chicago Bears I marvelled at the extravagance of the facilities as I wandered through an $80 million complex.

I couldn’t help but compare it to how we do things back home in our great game.

However while most things in US sport might be bigger – especially the money involved and the media attention – the principles of each sport remain the same.

During the week, they all prepare and plan to get the best out of themselves for every match.

This has always been the case in the AFL or VFL as it was many years ago.

What has changed in our game, however, is the amount of money and the level of professionalism.

One only has to look at our own coaching structures – and the way the AFL has evolved – over the past 20 or 30 years to see what I am talking about.

The days of the senior coach, who maybe had one assistant helping him out, are long gone.

A quick glimpse in a coaches’ box today shows the senior coach surrounded by three or four assistants. There might be also one or two others helping on match day.

The senior coach’s role – especially during the week – is more widespread these days than ever before, and he needs to have a variety of skills to be good at his job.

It’s easy to look at an AFL coach’s resume and simply see ‘senior coach’. I think a lot of people wouldn’t know exactly what a coach does.

But our roles extend to teaching, as well as promoting leadership and management, among other skills.

While some of these skills might also make us suited to the corporate industry, I think it’s also reasonable to suggest we’d be of use at other sporting organisations.

We just happen to be coaching football. And coaching, after all, is about getting the best out of people.

It’s for this reason I believe a good coach – either from the AFL, NFL or NBA – would have something to offer any other professional sporting organisation anywhere in the world.

Yes, the game expertise would come from the coaches who have been around that particular sport their whole lives but surely a successful, suitably-qualified coach has the skill set to bring something to the table to any elite sporting organisation?

The sporting landscape is always developing and clubs are always moving with the times, looking to gain an edge over their rivals.

In the future striving for an advantage might be gained as much in intellectual talent as on-field.

What will the coaching structures look like in another 10 or 15 years?

Could a Phil Jackson type from the LA Lakers be helping out an AFL club? Or will a Bomber Thompson be asked to assist an NFL club?

I think every AFL coach could offer something, whether it be in terms of leadership or management style.

The opportunity for crossover, and for coaches to share their knowledge, is enormous.The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of the clubs or the AFL.