James Hird is on the list of candidates to be Essendon’s next coach as the Bombers begin the process of appointing Brad Scott’s permanent replacement.

On Monday the Bombers reportedly contacted 10 candidates about taking part in the application process.

Watch every match of every round of the AFL Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.

The Herald Sun’s Jon Ralph said the race to be Essendon coach had “officially ramped up” with “coffee dates” set to take place over the coming weeks.

Bombers great and former coach Hird has been confirmed as one of the candidates, along with several untried assistant coaches.

“Today, Essendon began the process of contacting 10 senior coaching aspirants, and it’s asking them to apply for the club’s vacant role,” Ralph told On the Couch on Kayo Sports.

“And the very strong message from Essendon tonight is they (candidates) are not scared off by this task – not by the spectre of James Hird, and certainly not by the spectre of the rebuild and how significant it might be.

“Those chats will take place in the next fortnight, then they will progress through to four or five of those people potentially putting in full submissions to the coaching search.”

According to Ralph the main contenders are Hird, while interim coach Dean Solomon, James Kelly, Hayden Skipworth, Daniel Pratt and James Rahilly are said to be in the mix.

“The Essendon view is those aspirants realise a lot of the heavy lifting has been conducted with the last couple of years of drafting,” Ralph said.

“The question those coaches would have to ask themselves is whether they would survive the rebuild. So, they’re open to a coffee date.

“Right now, James Hird has a plan to save Essendon. It is a compelling pitch. His dream is very much still alive tonight.”

Veteran reporter Caroline Wilson said on Channel 7’s Agenda Setters former Sydney Swans coach John Longmire is also in the mix.

“There are at least 10 more candidates that are going to be contacted this week, my understanding is John Longmire is among them,” she said.

Dean Solomon is 0-7 with an average losing margin of 43 points since taking over mid-season and he’s believed to be out of the running.

“I feel like the longer this goes for Dean Solomon … I don’t think it’s going to be his job … if you keep losing in this manner,” Jonathan Brown said.

“I still feel as if Hird and Solomon together would be a combination that would be attractive to the Essendon hierarchy.

“And it feels like the longer this goes, the more and more Hirdy comes into the picture.”

St Kilda great Leigh Montagna said Essendon will need to pivot to a “plan B” given Solomon is yet to get a win on the board.

“He’s a great Essendon person, a great football person and I’m sure his heart’s in the right place,” Montagna said on AFL 360.

“But from what we’re seeing on the field at the moment, it would be very hard to be able to appoint him as the next coach because he was meant to be the guy that, if nothing else, just galvanised the playing group in regard to their spirit and playing for the jumper and playing with passion, and we haven’t even seen that from them.

“So, the disappointing thing is it’s only going to get tougher from here.

“I mean, their losses have been against, let’s put it bluntly, not the best teams in the competition, when you’re looking at St Kilda and West Coast and Carlton, teams like that, but their next seven games, they’re playing against the Brisbane Lions, the Giants, Hawthorn, Adelaide, Geelong and Sydney.

“It’s going to get worse, so it’s going to be awfully hard, and it was reported that Andrew Welsh’s plan A was Dean Solomon as his preferred candidate.

“He needs to start thinking about plan B, because it’s looking really dire … it makes me feel that maybe James Hird is the answer for this football club because it’s not so much about the X’s and O’s.

“The playing list is going to be the playing list over the next few years.

“They’re gonna have to do some hard yards, but they just need someone to bring a bit of soul back to that football club, galvanise the fan base, and just get them playing for pride for the jumper.

Montagna added of Hird: “Why not? He can’t hurt and if he’s so invested and wants to do it so badly, and he’s going to do everything you can.

“He can’t hurt, because it’s going to be some heavy lifting for whichever coach takes over.”