“So obvious”: The current AFL coach who ticks all the boxes for the Tassie Devils job

Brendon Gale, the first CEO of the Tasmania Devils, has provided a clear blueprint of what the club wants from its first coach.

The Devils are continuing to get things in order ahead of their AFL entry in 2028 but they’ll be patient with one major appointment - the senior AFL coach.

Speaking to AFL.com.au, Gale said the Tassie candidate must have “the ability to work with youth and develop”. He also mentioned experience, having “rubber on the road” and “spruiking the gospel” of the Devils while using NBL title-winning JackJumpers coach Scott Roth as inspiration.

Upon considering all of the traits that Gale outlined, SEN’s Kane Cornes has put forward the name of Brisbane Lions premiership coach Chris Fagan as the most obvious candidate.

The proud Tasmanian fits the profile in almost all areas, according to Cornes.

“Listening to that and those attributes, there’s one obvious coach who ticks all of that,” Cornes said on SEN Breakfast.

“It is so obvious that this is a job for Chris Fagan. Everything that was said there: working with young players, rubber on the road, got the success now with the premiership, he built Brisbane from the ground up basically after everyone left and was there at a dark time.

“He (Gale) spoke about needing that resilience, he (Fagan) has been through that. He spoke about having a calm head and some composure. He spoke about Scott Roth who is 61, Fagan is 63.”

Fagan is contracted with the Lions until the end of 2027 which could fit perfectly with Tassie’s AFL entry.

And Cornes feels that as Fagan continues to age, he will need a younger assistant with him who is being earmarked for the senior role at some point in the future.

“Fagan will be coming to the exact right time, I would think, to finish at Brisbane when this opportunity comes up. Provided he’s got the energy, provided he wants to keep coaching, I get all of that,” Cornes added.

“The pressure is not going to be there straight away. So just listening to that, to me it’s just so obvious that it’s Chris Fagan.

“But with a younger up-and-comer underneath him. The name would be Scott Pendlebury or a Pendlebury-like person underneath Chris Fagan where after the hard work is done he can hand the reins over.

“I just think that’s so obvious that the person he was speaking about was Chris Fagan.”

Co-host Sam Edmund added: “Provided he’s got the fire.

“By 2028 he’ll be well and truly into his mid-to-late 60s.

“But he’s a proud Tasmanian too.”

Fagan is one of the key names being linked with the Tassie job alongside Nathan Buckley as well as John Longmire, even if Gale did say he has not yet contacted the former Swans coach.