Essendon legend James Hird has apologised for making life tough for Bombers coach Matthew Knights, with Hird admitting his comments this week were "a little inflammatory".

Hird had indicated this week that one day he'd like to coach the Bombers.

With Knights under pressure to hold onto his job, and the 13th-placed Bombers set to miss the AFL finals for the second time in Knights' three years in charge, Hird says it was never his intention to put pressure on the former Tiger.

Hird says the media reaction to his comments has been "hysterical".

He won't cop the assertion from critics including radio commentator Dermott Brereton that his comments were "naive".

"I haven't spoken to Matthew. I've made a conscious decision to stay away from the club," Hird said on Friday on FoxSports.

"After the comments, well naive, I'm not sure that's the right word.

"When you say you've thought about it but not yet, it's pretty obvious that you don't want to do it (coaching) right now.

"I just think that Matthew's got his job to do and I'd rather stay away from that.

"I certainly haven't got anything against Matthew and hopefully (he feels) the same.

"If I've made his life more difficult, well I apologise for that but, yeah, that wasn't the intention.

"I've been saying it for a long time, there's an interest in coaching but not yet.

"If you actually read it and don't get hysterical about it then it makes sense. Sometimes people don't read everything that's written."

Hird says his thoughts on coaching remain the same.

"The thinking hasn't been any different for a long time that there's always been something in me that there might be a chance to go back to the footy club and coach," he said.

"But definitely not in the short term.

"Comments (on Foxtel TV show) 'On The Couch' and maybe in the Herald Sun were a little bit inflammatory and taken the wrong way.

"But in my mind it has always been something down in the future.

"After looking at this week, any coaching aspirations have definitely been put to bed and I'm quite happy doing what I'm doing.

"No, except the Prahran under-9s, that's about the coaching aspirations for me in the short term."

Hird, 37, says he feels sympathy for Knights.

"Oh definitely. There's a lot of pressure on Matthew and on the footy club," said Hird.

"I just hope the football club makes the right decision for it as a club and for Matthew and that everything that happens over the next month or so is in the best interests of the club.

"It's not just a media-fest about a story. It's about people's lives.

"I'm not worried about the club. Clubs go through peaks and troughs.

"The president David Evans is a very smart man and a very capable man."

Hird laughed off criticism about his close friendship with Evans, his former business mentor.

"I don't really care whether it hurts us or not," Hird said.

"You're allowed to have friends in your life. It just so happens he's president of the Essendon Football Club."

Hird said Knights, who has two years to run on his contract, still needed to provide answers to the club in an end-of-season review.

"No, I don't think it's untenable. There's definitely questions to be answered," Hird said, adding that Essendon had suffered because of a heavy injury toll in 2010.

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