At a time of political uncertainty, hiring a coach as deeply connected to the Essendon network as Mark Harvey was almost as important as his football nous, Bombers coach James Hird said in announcing his former teammate as a recruit to the club's coaching panel.

Hird, who was at risk of losing his own job at a board meeting only weeks ago, said he was pleased to be able to bring Harvey into the club as he was second only to Kevin Sheedy for his connections to the Essendon network.

"Most importantly, having Mark back is about having a terrific coach back, someone who understands football … the added bonus is he is a great Essendon person, very loyal Essendon person, and of anyone around football probably except for Sheeds he has the best network of current Essendon people and knows who the real Essendon people are. I think that is very important as well," Hird said.

Owing to the ongoing legal action from Hird and the pending hearings for a large group of the Bombers players on the doping charges, there is a level of uncertainty about everything at Essendon at the moment.