HE'S FOUR years younger than one of Essendon's best players, a teacher by trade, and has never played a game of AFL footy.

And Hawthorn midfield coach Brendon Bolton is also a prime example of the modern breed of top line coaches.

Midway through his first year in the Hawks' coaches' box after a two-year stint as head coach at the club's VFL affiliate Box Hill, Bolton has quickly established himself as a highly-regarded football teacher.

"He's a terrific lad, with great values as a person, a great empathy for young people, and a real desire to help kids learn," Hawthorn senior coach Alastair Clarkson tells hawthornfc.com.au.

Bolton's methods - centred on empowering players to think about problems and come up with solutions themselves rather than having instructions barked at them - are poles apart from the authoritarian style adopted by many of the renowned leaders of yesteryear.

But the 32 year-old coach - a full Olympiad younger than Essendon defender Dustin Fletcher - has no doubt the empowerment approach is the way forward in the modern game.

"A really strong philosophy we have is that all the players are similar in terms of talent, so our role now is to tap into their thoughts, because thoughts determine how players feel and how they feel determines how they play," Bolton says.

"Making sure that their thoughts are aligned is the challenge in the art of coaching.

"It's not just saying the first thing that bobs into your head; coaches have got to think really seriously about what they say, when they say it and how they say it."

A top footballer in his native Tasmania in his younger days, Bolton dreamed of playing in the AFL, but concedes he lacked the "physical attributes" to make it at the highest level.

Nonetheless, he carved out an impressive career in his home state, representing the Mariners at under-18 level and the Devils in the VFL.

He was also captain-coach of North Hobart's premiership team in 2003 at just 24, winning the Southern Football League best and fairest the same year.

Alongside his passion for football, Bolton began his career as a teacher, working for seven years at Rosetta High School in Hobart.

It was here that the emerging coach began studying the 'learning to learn' education theories that have gone on to form the basis of his football leadership style.

"In education, usually you're assessed just on your ability to remember," Bolton says.

"But if you want real learning, you need to set up scenarios where people have got to evaluate, analyse and create.

"I started to apply a few of those strategies to my coaching, because it's not too different in football."

Bolton is also a big believer in getting to know the person behind the footballer.

His two years at Box Hill with rising Hawks stars Shane Savage, Matt Suckling, Luke Breust and Liam Shiels enabled him to build strong relationships that have carried on now that he and the players have made their transition to AFL level.

"One of my philosophies is to make sure you invest in the person as well as the footballer, and having constant conversations really helps me when you've then got to talk about the serious business of football," he says.

"It's helped with these guys coming up that I've already got that strong relationship with them built over the last couple of years.

"That takes time, and a lot of conversations."

Bolton's initial connection with Hawthorn came via the club's head of development Chris Fagan, who was coach of the under-18 Mariners when Bolton was a player.

At the beginning of 2008, Fagan and Clarkson gave the Tasmanian an opportunity to present his coaching theories.

Clearly Bolton made an impression, because when the Box Hill job became available at the end of that year he was asked to apply, and won the role.

The professional background washed well with Clarkson, himself a school teacher in a former life.

"We just thought that he was a guy who could bring a really good learning culture to our footy club," Clarkson says.

"You're finding more and more that people who have had teaching backgrounds are getting involved in AFL footy, because the development side of it is such an important aspect.

"When you're a teacher, without realising it you're learning all of these skills along the way, like dealing with parents and mini-crises and all those sorts of things.

"When it comes time to dealing with AFL footballers and their progress and development, in a lot of cases that teaching background is of enormous benefit."

After leading Box Hill to the finals in 2009 and 2010, Bolton was promoted to his current job for the start of this season.

With fellow midfield coach and former North Melbourne champion Adam Simpson focusing on stoppages, Bolton spends his time on the players' decisions and running patterns, with and without the ball.

So when the Hawks take possession in defence and begin to move the ball using their renowned precision kicking game, the decisions of a young midfielder such as Savage - where do I run? When do I present and when do I create space? And what do I do when I get it? Are all problems Bolton hopes he's taught the player how to solve.

"It's a real individual focus on looking at each player's decision-making within the game," he says.

Having got to where he is at such a young age, Bolton appears well set up to one day make the ultimate step into senior coaching.

Although he's not worried that his lack of AFL playing experience will hamper his chances - "It doesn't matter what type of background you've got, ultimately you need to be able to teach the game" - finding a top job isn't a key consideration for now.

"At the moment I'm just really keen to learn," he says.

"I'm lucky I've got a really good strategist in Alastair Clarkson and also (high performance coach) David Rath and Chris Fagan.

"I'm doing a good strong apprenticeship and looking forward to continuing to work with those guys and learning from them."

Senior coach Clarkson is more forthcoming about his apprentice's prospects, suggesting if an opportunity presents, Bolton will grab it and succeed.

"There's only 17, soon to be 18 senior AFL coaching roles in the country, and there's so many people who've got aspirations to coach at the highest level, so whether he ever gets there it's hard to say," Clarkson says.

"But he's certainly got the attributes to be a very good coach at AFL level for a long period of time."

Mark Macgugan writes for hawthornfc.com.au and covers Hawks news for afl.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @mmacgugan