Oldham have confirmed they are on the hunt for a new coach in 2026 – but it will NOT be Mike Ford, who will instead take up a new role as director of rugby at the Championship club.
The Roughyeds confirmed on Tuesday evening that Sean Long had departed the club by mutual consent, having guided them to promotion in 2024 and a top four finish in the Championship this year.
That led to almost instant speculation that Ford would be stepping in as head coach of the ambitious Roughyeds going into 2026 – something which has now been shot down by the club’s chairman, Bill Quinn.
He has confirmed that while Ford will be involved in the setup in 2026 and beyond, it will not be as head coach: with Ford instead assuming the role of director of rugby at Oldham.
Ford admitted it was a role he had always been keen to take up ever since returning to the club.
“I have always wanted to be Director of Rugby and I think everyone in the organisation has known that from day one.
“That is my skill set and it has taken us two and a half years of hard work for us to get here and allow me to focus more time on the rugby side of it. It is such a big job, it is the first team, women’s team, pathway and students teams.
“We will now be out there looking for a coach, or a couple of coaches to help with the first team. You put the press release out at 6pm and by 7pm I had eight CVs in my inbox! There is no shortage of coaches out there.”
Quinn, interestingly, seemed to suggest that his desire to move Ford into that role was a driving factor behind Long’s decision to not continue as head coach in 2026.
Quinn said: “Our vision is to move the club on in every department in every way we can. We push each other and I think that is why we have made such an aggressive progression so far.
“We looked at what we could do differently to improve and came up with a different idea to see Mike going to Director of Rugby and put that to Sean.
“I had a lot of discussions about it and Sean didn’t see that as his vision. He has done a great job for us, we wish him well in whatever direction he goes in. He brought us to where we are now. He did an absolutely fantastic job and now that progression will continue.”
