Usually, when more than one AFL club is looking for a senior coach, the question is whether a particular candidate chooses Team A or Team B.
Which makes the current AFL coaching hunts even more intriguing than usual. While Carlton, Essendon and newly-formed Tasmania are all searching for a new senior coach, it's looking more and more like each club is actually searching for something quite different.
The fledgling Devils, taking their very first steps in AFL company, are for understandable reasons heading down the path of experienced senior coach. Carlton, perhaps defying its historical reputation for the biggest of names, is targeting highly-rated assistant coaches.
And Essendon, maybe confirming its current status as an unruly and untameable beast, appears from the outside at least, to be intent on keeping things "in the (Bomber) family".
In an age where margins between clubs on field are so small it's often hard to tell the modus operandi of one from another, the discrepancies between what these three clubs seem to be seeking are in themselves quite remarkable.
So why is each club seemingly heading down such a different path? Let's look at them one by one.
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TASMANIA
While the Devils are at least going to be based in a state already with plenty of football heritage, no new club has entered the AFL without plenty of often unexpected obstacles to climb. So the league's 19th club seeming intent to go for an experienced hand in the coaching box is the most understandable.
The Devils' search is now popularly viewed as a race in three between John Longmire, Nathan Buckley, and Ken Hinkley, who between them have already racked up 37 seasons in three different coaching boxes, each serving protracted stints with their respective first clubs.
But that experience will be needed. An expansion club isn't merely appointing a senior coach. It's effectively choosing one of the principal architects of the entire football operation. Whoever gets the job will have enormous influence over list construction, standards, culture, staffing, and the very identity of the club, a very different assignment to inheriting a list already capable of playing finals.
Could a current assistant coach grow into that role? Certainly. But Tasmania simply can't afford to spend its first three or four years discovering whether that's the case. The Devils will only get one chance to make a first impression, and as the example of Gold Coast demonstrated, mistakes made early can take a decade to undo.
For the Devils, proven experience isn't just desirable. Given the magnitude of the task, it's probably the safest investment they'll make.
CARLTON
Carlton's search, meanwhile, seems to be asking an almost opposite question. Not "who's already done it?". But "who's going to be the competition's next great senior coach?"
To that end, it's worth noting that despite the Blues being prone historically to go for big, established names, they've also shown a willingness to think differently at times, with the appointment of not just one but two coaches who hadn't played AFL football in Wayne Brittain (2001-02) and Brendon Bolton (2016-19).
And the Blues look like they want to be bold once again now.
Just look at the confirmed interview list. Corey Enright, James Kelly, Jaymie Graham, James Rahilly, Daniel Giansiracusa, and Brendan Lade are all highly-rated assistants who've served lengthy apprenticeships under quality senior coaches, but none has previously occupied the top job.
Interim coach Josh Fraser, who has led the Blues to six straight wins since Michael Voss stood down, hasn't officially been part of that process.
But you do wonder just how much impact his success thus far has changed the dynamics of the Blues' search and given them greater cause to believe that an untried candidate can deal with the amount of noise which inevitably surrounds Princes Park.
Then again, none could reasonably be described as inexperienced. Every one of them has either served a lengthy apprenticeship, been part of a highly successful football program, or in the case of Enright, Kelly, and Rahilly, both.
Carlton's gamble isn't so much that an assistant coach might fail. It's more that someone else identifies the competition's next Craig McRae before the Blues do.
ESSENDON
Essendon's search, meanwhile, seems to be driven by something else again. And that's not so much "who's the best coach?" as "who's the best person to coach Essendon?"
Supporters of both of the only clear candidates for the job to have emerged, former premiership players James Hird and Dean Solomon, would argue that's a shrewd acknowledgement that it takes an intimate knowledge of the club's DNA to be able to cope with the supposed unique pressures of life with the Bombers.
Naysayers -- and on this issue I'm happy to raise my hand as one -- would argue that's a really bad premise upon which to be picking a coach, and that nothing encourages the building of an affinity with a club and the loyalty of supporters and hangers-on like actually winning games.
Has there been another club coaching search in which so few genuine contenders have been identified? Doubtful. And is that because the bold declarations from Hird about his intent have scared off other contenders? Or did those potential candidates see how Essendon has conducted itself this century and simply decide "no, thanks."
There's a belief in some circles that Essendon is quite strategically playing ducks and drakes here, and that the almost total concentration on Hird and Solomon as the only possible choices is allowing the Bombers to negotiate with their preferred candidate with more stealth.
Frankly, given everything we've seen at The Hangar over the last two decades, I think that's a generous interpretation.
History suggests it's far more likely to be another example of Essendon believing it's different, that the normal rules don't quite apply. The irony, of course, is that after 20-odd years without a finals victory, learning from the rest of the competition rather than continuing to insist it somehow operates under different rules might actually be the better strategy.
You can read more of Rohan Connolly's work at FOOTYOLOGY.