MICHAEL Voss was an amazing footballer, and one of the better leaders of his day. He could ultimately prove to be an excellent coach, too, but can someone logically explain why he and Nathan Buckley would be better coaches than half-a-dozen of their less-decorated teammates?

Because they're better known?

Why is Voss a more appealing coaching prospect than former team mates Brad Scott, Blake Caracella, Craig McRae and Justin Leppitsch — all of whom are assistant coaches of some description this year?

Is Bucks really more capable than, say, Scott Burns or Shane Wakelin? Perhaps a Brownlow medal, or club captaincy, is now mandatory on a senior coach's resume.

I wouldn't have a clue which of the above blokes would make a decent coach, and it's quite possible that Voss and Buckley are the pick of them; certainly, they have some outstanding traits and they're keen to coach. What is clear, however, is that the AFL industry remains collectively clueless on the issue of coaches, persisting, as it does, with the absurd tradition of selecting them on the basis of a) profile, and b) their playing record.

John Buchanan didn't play Test cricket. He wasn't even close. Bart Cummings didn't ride a Melbourne Cup winner. Don Talbot and Charlie Walsh, worldbeating coaches in swimming and cycling, didn't swim or ride with great distinction. Yet, in the AFL, there is an illogical view that one's playing ability is relevant to coaching prowess, when there is no evidence of a link.

In the AFL's American counterpart, the National Football League, Bill Cowher defied the odds in 2006 when he coached the Pittsburgh Steelers to victory in the Super Bowl (over Seattle). Cowher, you see, was the first Super Bowl-winning coach in 20 years to have PLAYED that game at NFL level. The previous former player was Mike Ditka, of the Chicago Bears, in 1986.

In the US, there is a professional coaching culture. The better coaches are drawn from a much vaster and more qualified pool of people; most played college football, not necessarily well. Vince Lombardi, the NFL's answer to Ron Barassi, Norm Smith and Jock McHale, didn't play NFL

You would think that, given that the AFL follows the NFL slavishly in so many other areas — the draft, the salary cap, television coverage — that it would examine more closely the coaching models of American football. But Australian football remains wedded to its antiquated tradition of top players sliding into coaching.

Remarkably, if anything, the pool of coaches might be becoming more superstar-laden, not less — a trend counter to the game's advancing professionalism. Allan Jeans and Tom Hafey were plodding players who became uber coaches, and then came the back-pockets who got the most from limited talent — Kevin Sheedy, Mick Malthouse, Denis Pagan, David Parkin et al. The notion of hiring someone who didn't play AFL or high level SANFL/WAFL remains revolutionary (Melbourne's Mark Riley, incidentally, has the least on-field runs on the board of any coach since Wayne Brittain).

One reason clubs don't recruit coaches from the lower levels of the game is that, relative to American college football — which is a major sport in its own right — the second-tier competitions of Australian football are much weaker, and don't produce the same deep well of coaches from which to draw.

Paul Roos and Leigh Matthews didn't help the cause of the coach with no name. They, and Malcolm Blight, are superstar players who could coach. They are, nonetheless, well and truly outnumbered by the gallery of favourite sons who failed, such as Kevin Bartlett, Wayne Schimmelbusch and Tony Shaw.

Today, it appears the marketing tail is wagging the coaching dog. Clubs want someone they can sell to members and sponsors, hence they find it difficult to look past brand-name players.

Even a club with West Coast's might and power is susceptible to the irrational mob — the Eagles, remember, are believed to have offered the job to Neil Craig before the threat of a supporter revolt had John Worsfold installed; happily, their people's choice was a sound one. Ditto for Roos and Sydney.

There is an unspoken assumption that a superior footballer, with alpha male tendencies (Voss, Buckley), needs less of an apprenticeship than a player of more modest ability.

Again, this is ridiculous. One of these years, a club will disregard footy culture and hire someone with zero profile who can really coach, and it will steal a march on the clubs that are still wallowing in "profile."

"Footy culture", as a sage official once said, is an excuse for not pursuing excellence.