With the club's administration adamant the embattled coach will keep his job beyond this season, the Lions are considering introducing a senior football figure to help guide Leppitsch in 2017.

The feeling at the Lions is that Leppitsch is the right man to take the club forward but he needs more support, either from a mentoring figure or another senior person in the football department, or both.

While that senior figure had been Peter Schwab, the former Hawthorn coach relocated to Melbourne after last season for family reasons and only travels to Brisbane once a month, while Matt Francis is in his first season as head of football.

If the Lions were to go down the mentoring path, there would be a relatively small pool from which to choose.

Carlton made a similar appointment with Neil Craig, who was brought in to help Brendon Bolton in his first few seasons as senior coach.

Rodney Eade had a similar role at Collingwood before being poached by the Gold Coast Suns.

Neil Balme would be an experienced head to run the Lions' football department, but it's unlikely he would leave the Pies.

Chris Fagan has done well at Hawthorn, but he too would be reluctant to leave given his close relationship with Alastair Clarkson.

The only man not at a club that could possibly fill a mentoring role is Mick Malthouse. But Lions chief executive Greg Swann is unlikely to go down that path again given what happened at Carlton in 2015.

One other possible candidate is current Melbourne coach Paul Roos. While he has frequently ruled out going to another club after he hands Melbourne to assistant coach Simon Goodwin at season's end, he has changed his mind before.

Roos ticks all the boxes for a role at a club that is crying out for stability and leadership. He is experienced, has a track record of success and would be a perfect sounding board for a coach who needs support, tactically and in dealing with pressure.

Through the AFL, the Lions could offer Roos a significant wage without the stress of being senior coach.

The desperate situation that Leppitsch is in was highlighted in his media conference after the loss to Fremantle on Saturday, when he was questioned about his future.

"Can we stop these silly questions?" Leppitsch pleaded, with a pained smile on his face.

"Why would you ask someone if they're going to keep their job?" Leppitsch continued.

"First of all, if you said that to someone on the street, it's a disgusting thing to say. Second of all, ask someone who decides it, not me."

These would seem to be the remarks of someone who is feeling the pressure and who is in need of support.

Essendon great Matthew Lloyd said on Monday that Leppitsch cut a lonely figure in the coach's box during Saturday's embarrassing defeat.

"[He's] standing in the corner, looks frazzled … how do you communicate with someone standing in the corner on their own, looking rattled?" Lloyd told 3AW.

While the external consensus seems to be that Leppitsch cannot survive, Lions powerbrokers Leigh Matthews and Greg Swann are adamant he will be the coach in 2017. If that is the case, he clearly needs help.