TASMANIA has started meeting potential recruits as the Devils look to lock in their coach and football boss in 2026.

And the club is confident it will have players agreed to join by the end of this season as well, despite not entering the competition until 2028.

But Devils chief executive Brendon Gale said the club had not yet settled on their coaching position, with Nathan Buckley considered a strong favourite for the role.

Buckley was in discussions with Melbourne for its vacant coaching position and the Devils late in the year before deciding to join Geelong as an assistant coach under dual premiership coach Chris Scott. 

Gale said the industry view that there was an agreement already in place for Buckley to be Tasmania's first head coach was not correct.

"No it's not," he told AFL.com.au in a wide-ranging interview on the Devils' next steps and plans for 2026. 

"But Nathan's one of those guys I've had a number of chats with. There have been others, as it's our responsibility to do. He's a guy that's been, on any measure, a very good coach. People tend to get better as they get older.

"I think it's great that someone like him has gone back into football, into a football club and coaching and sharing his knowledge and wisdom. We seem to be losing too many to the media and other roles.

"He's a person of interest. There are others."

Gale said the Devils weren't aware of Buckley's intention to head to Geelong until it was confirmed, but that he supported the former Collingwood coach's desire to work under Scott, and that he would want to have appointed the Devils' inaugural coach during this year.

"I'd like to have a coach, without necessarily starting at the end of this year, certainly locked away by the end of this year so it can just set up your 2027 according to how you want," he said. 

Tasmania last year appointed Todd Patterson as its list manager and Derek Hine as its recruiting manager in the important posts, with the club's next priority to land its football boss. 

"I'd like to have that role locked away by maybe the middle of this year at the latest," Gale said. "You want that person to own all those big key decisions about what the footy department looks like and the personnel." 

Former coaches Ken Hinkley and John Longmire have been mooted for possible senior roles at the Devils, with Gale saying he valued the pair's experience in football programs. 

The Tasmanian parliament's vote in December to green light the Macquarie Point stadium build, which guaranteed the Devils' AFL licence, has added certainty to Gale and the club's plans this year, which include stepping up their bid for rival stars.

This year they will start signing 17-year-old draft talents as part of their pre-listed access to 2027 draft prospects, and Gale is also confident by the end of this season some currently listed AFL players will have committed to joining the Devils at the end of 2027.

Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney were able to win a number of undisclosed commitments from players a year before they joined the competition more than a decade ago as the AFL's newest clubs, with Tassie chasing the same. 

"If you look at precedent, I think that probably is the case. I think we'd like to have a line of sight (by the end of this year) at the very least," he said. "We've got our concessions and rights and benefits and now we're finalising our strategy which we'll obviously take to the board and that'll underpin how we build our list over the next few years. Then we get to work."

The work has begun, with the Devils already speaking with players about their interest in moving clubs.

"I certainly haven't, but I'd imagine Derek and Todd have been out and about doing their thing," Gale said. "I'm sure [they've spoken with players], absolutely, and their representatives as well. And the other teams wouldn't expect anything different." 

Collingwood superstar Nick Daicos' contract runs until the end of 2029, when he will be a free agent, but the young champion midfielder has not ruled out looking at the Devils down the track. 

Gale, who is into his second year with the Devils having started officially at the beginning of 2025 after a long and successful tenure as Richmond's boss, said making a splash with recruitment was important. 

"Clearly he's an outstanding player on any measure with a bright future and Collingwood are lucky to have him. But impressions really matter when you're coming out of the ground and you want to make a statement," Gale said. 

"Those sorts of players, they're difference makers, they're generational players. But once again, they need to be making those decisions and committing for the right reasons."