AFL flag hero Dean Solomon quits Essendon board to take up assistant coaching role

Essendon premiership player Dean Solomon has quit the AFL club’s board — and will relocate from NSW — to join the frontline as a full-time assistant coach.

The 45-year-old last served as a coach at GWS before returning to the Bombers as a director at the end of last year.

He will now head back out on the track, leading the backline and team defence, in a bid to help Essendon return to the finals.

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“Firstly, I love this football club and I’ll be forever indebted for what it has given me from a professional and personal point of view. I’m incredibly grateful and humbled to be considered for such a role,” Solomon said in a club statement.

“After 12 years of coaching at the AFL level, I recently set off in a different direction, started and established my own business, and on the side coached my own team. Coaching is something I’ve always loved and I’m incredibly passionate about.

“A year ago, I made a decision to give back to our football club at a board level. After much consideration and discussion, it has become clear that my time is best spent in a coaching capacity.

“I’m excited to work with and learn off Brad and the other coaches. I’m looking forward to rolling my sleeves up and building strong relationships with all staff and our players.

“I’m genuinely excited about the direction of our footy club.”

Solomon has spent nearly a decade as a coach across stints at Fremantle, where he finished his playing career, Gold Coast and the Giants alongside former teammates Mark McVeigh and James Hird.

Solomon and Hird were among the former Bombers at GWS in 2022. Credit: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

He briefly served as the Suns’ interim coach following the sacking of Rodney Eade in 2017.

Solomon’s return to the football department comes after his premiership teammate Andrew Welsh took charge as president late in the Bombers’ injury-riddled 2025 campaign.

“When it was first raised to me about Solly joining the coaching group, it made me consider what the best use for him at the club was,” Welsh said.

“He has been invaluable to us on the board, but taking into account everyone’s views, it was clear that it was an opportunity that we couldn’t pass up, and that’s when we first approached Solly about the role.

“Solly needed to take a lot into consideration, including relocating from NSW, but after careful thought, he embraced the opportunity, and we were rapt that he accepted this role as an assistant coach to get back into the trenches and help fast-track the development of the team.

“A process is already underway to fill Dean’s vacant board position, with that person having a football background to ensure we still maintain football expertise at board level. We expect to make an announcement on the new director in the coming weeks.”

Essendon’s defence was led by Ben Jacobs in 2025, while midfield coach Daniel Giansiracusa has left for Hawthorn.

Senior coach Brad Scott played a key role in the decision to bring Solomon into the fold.

“I’ve tried to recruit Solly in the past as an assistant coach and I’m rapt that we’ve been able to secure his services this time around,” he said.

“We have been working on this plan for several weeks now, and it’s great that he has been able to jump out of his board role and back into our football department,” Scott said.

“He is vastly experienced as a football person who will add a layer of strength to our coaching group and be a key pillar in helping to develop and grow our list.

“Having coached and played against him, we have aligned philosophy on how the game should be played, and his addition to our group makes us stronger, which we are all excited about.”