List of Hawthorn Football Club coaches

Alastair Clarkson is the most decorated coach in Hawthorn history

The Hawthorn Football Club are a professional Australian rules football team based in Mulgrave, Victoria, playing in the Australian Football League. The team began as the Mayblooms before changing their nickname to the Hawks in 1942.

Since joining the VFA in 1914, Hawthorn have had 33 coaches. The current coach of the club is Sam Mitchell, who took over from Alastair Clarkson ahead of the 2022 season. Clarkson is the most successful coach in the club's history having led the team for more games coached, home and away games coached, games won, home and away wins, finals games, finals wins, and VFL/AFL premierships.

# Number of coaches
G Games coached
W Wins
L Losses
D Draws
Win% Winning percentage

VFA/VFL/AFL Men's coaches

Bronze statue of Kennedy in front of Waverley Park
Sam Mitchell current Hawthorn coach
As of the end of round 23, 2025
# Name Season(s) Total Achievements
G W L D Win%
1 Alf Gough 1914–1915 31 4 26 1 012.90
2 Jack McKenzie 1919 18 8 10 0 044.44
3 Ted Alley 1920 4 1 3 0 025.00
4 Arthur Rademacher 1920–1921 31 12 19 0 038.71
5 Bill Walton 1922–1924 54 31 22 1 057.41
6 Alec Hall 1925 17 3 14 0 017.65
7 Dan Minogue 1926–1927 36 4 31 1 011.11
8 Bert Sutton 1928 18 0 18 0 000.00
9 Albert Chadwick 1929 18 4 14 0 022.22
10 John Harris 1930–1931 36 9 27 0 025.00
11 Jim Jackson 1932 18 3 15 0 016.67
12 Fred Phillips 1933 0 0 0 0 !—
– Arthur Rademacher (interim) 1933 4 1 3 0 025.00
13 Bill Twomey Sr. 1933–1934 32 5 27 0 015.63
14 Ivan McAlpine 1935–1938 72 22 50 0 030.56
15 Len Thomas 1939 18 5 12 1 027.78
16 Bert Mills 1940–1941 36 10 26 0 027.78
17 Roy Cazaly 1942–1943 30 10 20 0 033.33
18 Tommy Lahiff 1944 18 2 15 1 011.11
19 Keith Shea 1945–1946 39 9 30 0 023.08
20 Alec Albiston 1947–1949 57 12 45 0 021.05
21 Bob McCaskill 1950–1951 36 4 32 0 011.11
22 Jack Hale 1952–1959 146 61 84 1 041.78
— John Kennedy Sr. (caretaker) 1957 1 0 1 0 000.00
23 John Kennedy Sr. 1960–1963 77 46 30 1 059.74 VFL premiership (1961)
Jock McHale Medal (1961)
2× Minor premiership (1961, 1963)
McClelland Trophy (1961)
24 Graham Arthur 1964–1965 36 17 19 0 047.22
25 Peter O'Donohue 1966 18 5 13 0 027.78
— John Kennedy Sr. 1967–1976 222 135 86 1 060.81 2× VFL premiership (1971, 1976)
2× Jock McHale Medal (1971, 1976)
2× Minor premiership (1971, 1975)
McClelland Trophy (1971)
2× Pre-season premiership (1968, 1969)
26 David Parkin 1977–1980 94 57 37 0 060.64 VFL premiership (1978)
Jock McHale Medal (1978)
Pre-season premiership (1977)
NFL Championship (1976)
27 Allan Jeans 1981–1987 174 124 49 1 071.26 2× VFL premiership (1983, 1986)
2× Jock McHale Medal (1983, 1986)
Minor premiership (1986)
3× McClelland Trophy (1984, 1985, 1986)
2× Pre-season premiership (1985, 1986)
2× VFL Team of the Year (1983, 1986)
— Alan Joyce (caretaker) 1988 24 21 3 0 087.50 VFL premiership (1988)
Jock McHale Medal (1988)
Minor premiership (1988)
McClelland Trophy (1988)
Pre-season premiership (1988)
— Allan Jeans 1989–1990 47 35 12 0 074.47 VFL premiership (1989)
Jock McHale Medal (1989)
Minor premiership (1989)
28 Alan Joyce 1991–1993 69 46 23 0 066.67 AFL premiership (1991)
Jock McHale Medal (1991)
2× Pre-season premiership (1991, 1992)
29 Peter Knights 1994–1995 45 20 25 0 044.44
30 Ken Judge 1996–1999 88 37 50 1 042.05 Pre-season premiership (1999)
31 Peter Schwab 2000–2004 109 52 57 0 047.71
— Chris Connolly (caretaker) 2001 1 1 0 0 100.00
— Donald McDonald (interim) 2004 5 3 2 0 060.00
32 Alastair Clarkson 2005–2021 390 228 158 4 058.46 4× AFL premiership (2008, 2013, 2014, 2015)
4× Jock McHale Medal (2008, 2013, 2014, 2015)
2× Minor premiership (2012, 2013)
2× McClelland Trophy (2012, 2013)
4× All-Australian team (2008, 2013, 2014, 2015)
— Brendon Bolton (caretaker) 2014 5 5 0 0 100.00
33 Sam Mitchell 2022– 92 45 47 0 048.91 McClelland Trophy (2024)

AFL Women's coaches

On 12 August 2021, Hawthorn was granted a license to join the AFL Women's league for the 2022/23 season.[1] Bec Goddard who was in charge of the club's VFL women's side was immediately appointed as the club's first ever AFLW coach.[2]

As of the end of round 1, 2025
# Name Season(s) Total Awards
G W L D Win%
1 Bec Goddard 2022 (S7)–2023 20 6 14 0 030.00
2 Daniel Webster 2024– 14 11 3 0 078.57 McClelland Trophy (2024)

References

  1. ^ "AFLW will expand to 18 teams from the 2022/23 season". ABC news. 12 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  2. ^ Black, Sarah (12 August 2021). "Hawks unveil premiership mastermind as inaugural AFLW coach". womens.afl. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
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