The province is looking for a new No 1, and applications closed on Friday.
Tom Donnelly has accepted a position with the Force and will move to Perth once his commitments with Otago in the NPC have been wrapped up. That could be as early as this weekend.
Otago need to beat Northland in Whangarei on Friday and keep their fingers crossed for a raft of other results to go their way in order to make the playoffs.
One of the potential leading candidates for the role has declared himself out of the race.
Former Otago coach Cory Brown did not apply.
He has replaced Kenny Lynn as the Highlanders attack coach and wants to focus on that role.
"I certainly want Otago to do well and be successful", he said.
Brown, a former nuggety halfback for Otago, coached the province from 2015 to 2017.
He had a season with the Highlanders as an assistant in 2018 and has coached in Japan, Ireland and the United States, and also helped Georgia achieve wins over Italy and Wales.
"I think when coaches do two roles, it can be quite difficult to do those both well", he said.
Former Otago and Scotland midfield back John Leslie has previously expressed a desire to coach Otago.
He could not be reached for comment yesterday but the rumour mill has Leslie potentially heading in a different direction.
The 53-year-old coached Northland in 2023 and led Southern to back-to-back club titles in the Dunedin premier grade in 2022 and 2023.
Sources have told the Otago Daily Times the Otago great had "cooled" on the idea of coaching Otago and would possibly spend some time with his old team-mate Jamie Joseph at the Highlanders, though there are no permanent roles open there.
Former Otago attack coach Ryan Martin is returning to the US, where he will coach the New England Free Jacks. He coached the Free Jacks in 2021, so it is a homecoming of sorts for Martin, an assistant coach with Northland this season.
Otago assistant coach Ryan Bambry and Highlanders under-20 coach Will Henry could find their curricula vitae shuffled to the top of the deck if they applied for the role.
Bambry, who declined to comment when contacted yesterday, has made his way up through the ranks. He has been the director of rugby at Waitaki Boys’ High School, and he also coached the King’s High School First XV.
Bambry has led the Highlanders under-20 team in the past and has been an assistant coach with Otago since 2021, so he has had a solid apprenticeship.
Otago Spirit coach Craig Sneddon told the Otago Daily Times he had not thought about the role when asked a few weeks back.
But he is ambitious to coach professionally and under his watch the Spirit have played an attractive brand of rugby.
Otago attack coach Kane Jury is another ambitious local coach already in the system.
