Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell is set to become one of the highest-paid coaches in the league when he inks a fresh contract extension with the club.
Channel 7’s Tom Morris reported last week that Mitchell, who is contracted at Hawthorn until the end of 2027, would take a phone call from a rival club.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Sam Mitchell set for Hawthorn extension until 2030
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Mitchell confirmed that to be the case, but added that he was very happy at the club and wasn’t interested in leaving.
Caroline Wilson revealed on The Agenda Setters that the club is putting together a three-year extension for Mitchell that will take him through until the end of 2030 and will likely be signed by August.
“Hawthorn have tabled an offer to Sam Mitchell and my understanding, it’s a three-year deal involving a significant pay rise and the usual incentives, including, top fours, premierships, etc.,” Wilson said.
“My understanding is that Sam did not speak to Tasmania. Tasmania never thought it was realistic in any way that Sam, who will be heading down to Tassie to play the Demons this weekend, had any interest in leaving Hawthorn.
“I don’t know if there was a frustration. It’s been reported that contract negotiations were put on hold between Sam and the club just for family reasons. That has all been resolved now.
“I’m not saying it’s going to be resolved this week, but I think certainly by August, Sam Mitchell will be Hawthorn coach until the end of 2030.”
The exact figure wasn’t discussed, but Wilson suggested the new deal would have Mitchell just behind Geelong’s Chris Scott and Gold Coast’s Damien Hardwick at the top of the tree.
“Chris Scott would be higher paid than Sam Mitchell and I think Damien Hardwick might be just ahead of him, but I don’t know if there’s anyone else,” she said.
Mitchell took charge of Hawthorn after the departure of four-time premiership coach Alastair Clarkson at the end of the 2021 season.
He immediately put the club on a rebuilding path with many predicting a number of worrying years at the bottom. But that never happened.
After showing signs of steady improvement in his first two seasons, Mitchell’s Hawks reached the semi-final in 2024 and then the preliminary final last year.
He has the Hawks in third place at the moment to again be one of the premiership contenders.
Channel 7 expert Kane Cornes praised Mitchell for getting the club into contention so quickly.
“Just the way that he has done this and he has been ahead of the curve on where he saw the list and where they needed to get to. He was ahead of the rebuild with Tassie coming in,” Cornes said.
“He said, ‘we have to rebuild while no one else is doing it because we know Tassie is coming in’.
“And where they sit right now is one of the great platforms to win a premiership, which they can well and truly achieve with the way they’re going.”
