Dean Cox to stay in Sydney and reject lure of coaching old club West Coast Eagles

West Coast great Dean Cox won’t coach the club next year, after ruling himself out of the vacant job.

Cox, who played 290 games for the Eagles and won the 2006 Premiership, is currently a senior assistant at the Sydney Swans and was considered a frontrunner for the West Coast role.

“I am extremely happy in Sydney, and I believe this is the best place for me and my family at the moment”, Cox said on the Swans website.

“My two girls are eight and 11 and have made solid friendships at school, and my wife is running a new business which she is passionate about, so we feel staying in Sydney is the best option for us right now.”

Cox said he enjoyed working with current Swans head coach John Longmire.

“It’s such a good working environment at the Swans, we feel we have built a strong list at the club and we have got a good foundation for success,” he said.

Cox headed a list of potential replacements for Adam Simpson, who departed the Eagles last week.

Other possible candidates include his premiership teammate Ashley Hansen, and the club’s current interim coach Jarrad Schofield.

Schofield said last week he didn’t consider his seven-game tenure an audition for the job, and refused to publicly say he wanted it going forward.

Simpson left the Eagles after 11 years, which included coaching the side to the 2018 flag, and the 2015 Grand Final.

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