James Kelly says his departure from Essendon shocked many within the club – including senior coach Ben Rutten.
Kelly decided to relinquish his role as an assistant coach at the Bombers on the eve of the 2021 season to spend more time with his family.
“I went and saw ‘Truck’ (Ben Rutten) last week … he was a bit shocked,” Kelly told Sportsday.
“I don’t think anyone really saw it coming, but he was absolutely as reasonable as he could have been, and I couldn’t have been happier with the discussions we had.
“He knows that I’ve been struggling with balancing the whole thing out. Coming from Geelong, I’ve had to take a few days off looking after the kids.
“He was like, ‘Mate, do what you need to do’. He was really supportive.”
Kelly found balancing work and family life challenging and that the time was right to step away from coaching.
“I know it was a shock for everyone, but it’s something we’ve been toying with for a little while and it felt with the balance being out, the kids weren’t able to get everything that we felt they needed,” he said.
“So I made the call that I wanted to step back for the rest of the year and get some balance back in our lives and prioritise the kids and the family.
“For me, it felt like the right time before the season started.”
Kelly, 37, joined Essendon’s coaching staff at the end of 2017 after a superb 313-game career with Geelong and the Bombers.