FORMER West Coast coach John Worsfold has endorsed Peter Sumich and Scott Burns as "very well credentialled" candidates to succeed him in the role.

Worsfold resigned as coach earlier this month after 12 years in the job.

Sumich is a current assistant at Fremantle and Burns in his fifth year as an assistant at the Eagles.

West Coast are one of two clubs in the market for a new coach – the Brisbane Lions being the other – and will no doubt look at both men during their process to appoint a new senior figure.

"Peter Sumich has now followed a very good pathway into giving himself the background to be a senior coach, having coached reserve level in the WAFL and in the seniors, and then as an assistant coach at two difference clubs over 12 years," Worsfold told the West Coast website.

"There's not too much more he could do.

"His experience as an assistant coach and coaching his own team would stack up with anyone going for any senior job other than someone who's coached at senior level already in the AFL.

"And Scott Burns …  [his coaching career is a] bit shorter but as a player for such a long period and playing under Leigh Matthews and then Mick Malthouse, and then working with myself for five years, I think he's got a good grasp of what coaching takes and how you can attack different issues."

Worsfold said he believed it was important for a coach to "be honest in who you are" and hold key values of integrity and honesty.

"The biggest thing I think players see through is a lack of authenticity," he said.

"You have to be who you are and not try to coach like you think a coach should be.

"You have to bring your own personality to it and not think that you have to be a certain way, act a certain way just to keep people happy for what they perceive is what a good coach should be doing."

Worsfold will go on a few weeks' holiday with his family once he's finished club reviews and when the Eagles players who are still playing in WAFL finals finish their seasons.

After going from high school to playing league football and studying full-time, and then from that into working as a proprietor of a pharmacy before entering coaching, Worsfold said he's "always had a lot on my plate".

But, he still isn't sure what the next chapter of his life holds.

"I'm looking forward to whatever challenges come my way and I want to do something where I can have an impact," he said.

"After [the holiday], I'll start to sit down and think about what's next.

"It might be a bit strange in the first few days off when I consider that I'm not really on holidays and I don't have anything to do."

Worsfold said through his conversations with club chairman Alan Cransberg and CEO Trevor Nisbett he knew he had the full support of the board to continue as West Coast's coach.

But he needed to present a plan that was accepted by the board and had to have the passion to coach on, which was something he lacked.

"I'm very comfortable with the decision," Worsfold said.

"It was a tough decision to make because I love the job and the footy club.

"There's a lot of reasons to stay but deep down, to absolutely do the job to the best of your ability, I felt I was going to struggle to do that and maintain my passion and enthusiasm throughout another year."

Twitter: @AFL_JenPhelan