Schwab, who spoke to two radio stations on Wednesday morning in the wake of his reluctant resignation, said he hoped McLardy would stay after taking on "one of the hardest gigs of all time" when the late Jim Stynes fell ill with cancer.
Demons in crisis: Schwab forced out
"I'm hoping Don really sees it through," Schwab told Triple M.
"Don's had one of the hardest gigs of all time. He's had to step in not only as the president in terms of the job but to back up the vision that Jim actually had.
"Jim was the reason I came back to the club. I'd actually made a choice initially I wouldn't and he came around and we talked about it and I ended up taking the job.
"It was very much about the emotional tie I had to the place."
McLardy said on Tuesday at the media conference that announced Schwab's departure there would be a board meeting in the next 24 to 48 hours, with speculation that businessman Geoff Freeman would join the board as a potential candidate to succeed him.
Schwab believed Freeman would be a handy addition to the board but still believed McLardy was the right person to see through the current challenges.
"I know Geoff quite well and he's been a good Demon for a long period of time and he's pretty close to a group of guys who are on our board and around it," Schwab said.
"He'd add a lot to any group."
Schwab said he was not aware of the AFL playing a role in having him removed.
"There's a lot of conversations that happen in and around footy," he said.
"Don came to me yesterday and he was really clear on what he thought was best for the Melbourne footy club.
"I explained to Don I still had the fight in me and was ready to stand my ground and deal with what we had to deal with … but I also understood whilst I was in the role there was an aspect of a black cloud over the club, which I knew would be at least partly lifted if I moved.
"I wasn't going to put myself in a position where I was compromising what was best for the footy club."
Schwab also supported what McLardy had achieved in the role given the adversities the club had faced during his reign, including Stynes' death in March 2012, the tanking investigation and subsequent fine, and former player Liam Jurrah's legal problems.
"If the leadership of the club becomes a little bit vague after [Stynes], I think people have to be realistic about what that actually meant," Schwab said.
"From Don's point of view, he has genuinely made every effort to lead in a way that is consistent with who he is, and I've found him a really good president to work with.
"At the same time, we then had to deal with a number of distractions.
"On the back of that, to only win four games last year and to start the year [like] we have here, it probably added a dimension to it we didn't expect.
"We certainly expected to be in better shape."
