Essendon announce AFL operations boss Brad Scott as its new coach

Essendon has announced AFL operations boss Brad Scott as its new coach, declaring the former North Melbourne coach can help the club rediscover its “winning culture”.

Brad Scott is set to be the new coach at Essendon. Picture: AAP Images

Essendon is confident new coach Brad Scott will establish a winning culture at the club, after signing him to a four-year deal.

The former North Melbourne coach leapfrogged Melbourne assistant Adem Yze and Essendon champion James Hird to land the top job.

The four-year deal is worth somewhere between $3.5m and $4m.

Essendon football boss Josh Mahoney had an initial discussion with Scott about three weeks ago, but those talks were parked until the end of the AFL season.

Scott, the AFL’s operations boss, was interviewed on Thursday before the coaching subcommittee finalised their recommendation and presented to the board later that day.

Scott was “fully endorsed” by the Essendon board.

Brad Scott is Essendon’s new senior coach.

After sacking Ben Rutten with one year remaining on his contract, Essendon was determined to land a replacement with considerable senior experience, which was a deciding factor.

Essendon was also impressed by his work at the AFL, where he has helped shaped the game since taking over from Steve Hocking a year ago.

Scott spent nine and a half years at North Melbourne, leading the Kangaroos to two preliminary finals with a 106-win to 105-loss record, before parting ways with the club in 2019 with one year remaining on his contract.

The two-time Brisbane premiership player also worked as an assistant at Collingwood for three seasons before landing the job at Arden Street.

Congratulations to Brad Scott on becoming the Snr Coach of the @essendonfc From a personal point of view i want to say how proud i am of my great mate James Hird! For him to even be in a space which allowed him to apply for this role. That is most important to me #courage 💪🔴⚫️

— Dean Solomon (@SollySolomon) September 29, 2022

Essendon chairman David Barham said “it was clear the club required a strong leader”.

“Brad’s track record as a player, coach and administrator demonstrated this,” Barham said.

“At the age of 46, Brad has an incredible resume, with a diverse range of roles and is the experienced figure the club required.

“We believe Brad has all the attributes to be the long-term coach of the Essendon Football Club.

“He’s a strong leader who will drive standards and establish a winning culture.”

Former Essendon premiership Dean Solomon tweeted: “Congratulations to Brad Scott on becoming the Snr Coach of the @essendonfc. From a personal point of view i want to say how proud i am of my great mate James Hird! For him to even be in a space which allowed him to apply for this role. That is most important to me #courage️”

Brad Scott was congratulated by former Bomber Dean Solomon.

Essendon has not won a final since 2004 and is determined to jump back into the eight after missing the finals this season.

In a letter to members on Thursday night, Barham said the interview process had been “demanding”.

“I am delighted to write and officially announce to you first, that Brad Scott has been appointed as the senior coach of our men’s AFL team,” he wrote.

“This is a significant appointment and another important step forward in the progress of our club.

“To reach this appointment, we established a clear and structured coaching recruitment process to ensure we found the right person to take our club forward.

“The coaching process was diligent in its approach and detailed in its execution.

Brad Scott previously coached North Melbourne.

“It begun with a shortlist of over 22 candidates and included a demanding interview process, game style presentations and external personality profiling to ensure we had the full picture of the successful candidate.”

The committee who helped select Scott featured Robert Walls, Jordan Lewis, Simone McKinnis OAM, Andrew Thorburn, Dorothy Hisgrove and Josh Mahoney (Chair).

“The subcommittee was designed to bring a unique and diverse lens to the coaching process,” Barham said.

“I have been incredibly impressed with their work and as a Board, we have enormous confidence in the outcome it delivered.”

Barham welcomed Scott to the club along with his wife Penny and his two children Fletcher and Charles.

Originally published as Essendon announce AFL operations boss Brad Scott as its new coach