Melbourne CEO Paul Guerra has listed the reasons Steven King was hired to be the new Demons coach over five other candidates.
King was announced as the coach of the Demons last week after a selection panel was enlisted with the task of finding a new coach after Simon Goodwin was sacked in early August.
Guerra, who was a part of that selection panel, listed the reasons King was seen as the best option for the Demons going forward.
“A number of reasons. He’s a standout person for starters, a great family man,” Guerra said on SEN’s Fireball.
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“We loved his articulation of the game plan, particularly the contemporary side of it. We love how he’s using technology to inform that as well.
“We just love his ability to communicate. We think he’s the right choice for our team with where we’re at right now.”
Guerra said the club knew that King would be their coach after speaking to many potential candidates.
“We spoke to about 30 prospective coaches in the lead-up to it (the decision), and then we invited six of them back for what was the ultimate process where we had a panel put together,” he said.
“We put each of them through a series of questions and we got a presentation out of them as well. Five of them went through that. Ultimately [Collingwood assistant] Hayden Skipworth decided not to go through it.
“So we took two back for a final on Thursday, and at that point we knew we had our man in Steven King."
Guerra added that former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley was close to getting the coaching role but missed out due to 'margins'.
“On Nathan himself, it’s in the margins here. Outstanding football knowledge, outstanding coach," he said.
“If it is to be that he ends up coaching the Tasmanian Devils, then we wish him all the best.”