Inside Dons\u2019 astonishing 6-week Scott backflip\u2026 and how \u2018asterisk\u2019 finished him <\/a><\/p>\nCould James Hird return to Essendon? (Photo by Michael Willson\/AFL Photos via Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
Dean Solomon<\/p>\n
From the board to senior assistant \u2026 to senior coach? Solomon will take the interim coaching reins following Scott\u2019s departure. Intriguingly, Channel 7\u2019s Tom Morris reported on Monday night Scott and Solomon never had a great working relationship. Another premiership Bomber, Solomon has spent time as a senior coach – for three games back in 2017 at the Suns after Rodney Eade was sacked. He has spent time as an assistant coach at Fremantle and the Suns, with his time at the latter ended prematurely at the end of 2020, despite having a deal until the end of 2022, surprising many in the industry. Solomon was Stuart Dew\u2019s senior assistant in 2020 and met with the Dockers in 2019 as the side looked for a Ross Lyon replacement. He\u2019s also spent time with Mark McVeigh and Hird in the Giants coaching box in the back-end of this season following Leon Cameron\u2019s departure. He was went for the Bombers job four years ago that Scott eventually landed. Solomon was elected to Essendon\u2019s board in December 2024, stepped down abruptly in October 2025 \u2013 one month after his former teammate Andrew Welsh was appointed the club\u2019s president. If he got the gig full-time, it\u2019d be one heck of a unique pathway to get there.<\/p>\n
Daniel Giansiracusa<\/p>\n
Left Essendon in October 2025 after five seasons with the club\u2019s coaching panel and linked up with Hawthorn as its new head of development. It\u2019s a role that Hawks coach Sam Mitchell performed in 2021, before succeeding Alastair Clarkson the following year, in a sign of Giansiracusa\u2019s intentions. Bombers football boss Daniel McPherson said: \u201cWe understand his desire to become a senior coach and that rounding out his CV with a different role in the development area was important to him and we respect that decision.\u201d Seven months later, there\u2019s a coaching vacancy back at the Bombers. Giansiracusa, who was one of the shortlisted candidates beaten to the Melbourne job by Steven King last year, is widely considered a future coach. After a 265-game career at the Western Bulldogs, he became an assistant at the Bulldogs in 2015 before stepping into the role as senior coach of Footscray in 2019. Giansiracusa in 2020 was named the AFL Coaches\u2019 Association\u2019s Assistant Coach of the Year before being poached by Essendon for the 2021 season. Would he want to go back to Essendon so soon to hold a role he\u2019s desired for so long? Would Essendon entertain him so soon after his departure?<\/p>\n
James Kelly<\/p>\n
A triple premiership Cat and current Cats assistant \u2013 but also both a former Bombers player and assistant coach. Like Giansiracusa, Kelly was one of the candidates beaten to the Melbourne job by King last year, demonstrating just how close he was to landing a role. Kelly finished his decorated playing career at Essendon in 2017 then quickly moved into an assistant coaching role at the same club for three seasons. He resigned in February 2021 to care for his two young sons full-time, before linking back up with the Cats as an assistant in September that year. Since then, Kelly has honed his craft under arguably the competition\u2019s best mentor in Chris Scott. After missing out on the Demons gig last year, Kelly told the Geelong Advertiser: \u201cI don\u2019t ever want to really make big statements about that sort of stuff (coaching my own team), but I think just as they come, you just work through your own process. And if things line up, then you have a throw of the stumps and if they don\u2019t, then I absolutely love working where I do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Buckley, Longmire… or James Hird?! | 08:17<\/p>\n
Hayden Skipworth<\/p>\n
A former Crow and Bomber, Skipworth finished his playing career at Essendon in 2009 before a steady rise through the coaching ranks over 11 years at Essendon. He started as a development coach with the Bombers before leading both Bendigo Gold and the Bendigo Bombers in the VFL between 2012 and 16. He then moved into Essendon\u2019s AFL coaching ranks as an assistant, steering the forward line then midfield group. Skipworth since 2020 has been at Collingwood, where he\u2019s now Craig McRae\u2019s most senior assistant and often taken charge of the Pies during the pre-season. Skipworth was right in contention for the West Coast gig in 2024 \u2013 which was eventually secured by Andrew McQualter \u2013 and part of the Melbourne job interview process last year, although he wasn\u2019t as close this time around. In the wake of Michael Voss\u2019 exit from Carlton earlier this month, McRae said Skipworth \u201cwould be ready\u201d for a senior coaching role, adding: \u201cHis strategy is really good, his people management is really good The way he owns a room … he\u2019s really well organised. He\u2019s always bettering himself, travels to better himself. He\u2019s got a lot of experience now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Simon Goodwin<\/p>\n
Before landing at Melbourne \u2013 which saw him guide the club to that drought-breaking 2021 premiership, as well as a whirlwind 2018 preliminary final campaign and back-to-back minor premierships in 2022 and 2023, Goodwin was at the Bombers. Goodwin joined Essendon following his decorated playing career at the end of 2010, quickly rising the ranks as an assistant coach. He coached Essendon for one match in 2013 \u2013 after Hird was handed an AFL-imposed suspension \u2013 and was promoted to senior assistant under Mark \u2018Bomber\u2019 Thompson for the 2014 season, before Melbourne poached him to be part of a Paul Roos succession plan coaching handover. The rest is history. While Goodwin was removed by the Dees late in the 2025 season, there were signs during that year he\u2019d turned Melbourne\u2019s fortunes around. In fact, some would say Goodwin laid the foundations for the Demons\u2019 exciting new-look style under King this year. Goodwin wasn\u2019t out of a job for long, with Sydney quickly appointing him the club\u2019s director of coaching and performance. And his impact on Sydney\u2019s breathtaking high-handball game has been widely lauded, with the top-of-the-ladder Swans ranked a clear first for points scored this season.<\/p>\n
THE FIRST-TIMERS<\/p>\n
The success of Steven King at Melbourne no doubt boosts the stock of Geelong assistants Kelly and JamesRahilly.<\/p>\n
Rahilly even recently said he\u2019d be open to taking a call from Carlton to signal he has senior coaching ambitions. He\u2019s held numerous coaching roles with the Cats, including a three-year stint as Adelaide\u2019s forward coach in between.<\/p>\n
James Rahilly of the Cats (Photo by Michael Willson\/AFL Photos via Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also stocks up for Dees assistant Troy Chaplin, who works closely with King after assuming interim coach responsibilities following Simon Goodwin\u2019s sacking last tear. Chaplin flagged he wouldn\u2019t put his hand up for the Melbourne role but said he harboured aspirations to one day coach his own side<\/p>\n
In a similar vein, Suns assistant Shaun Grigg spent three seasons at the Cats and oversaw their midfield group in the 202 premiership year. So, Grigg has now served under Scott and Damien Hardwick \u2014 arguably the two best coaches of the modern era. And Scott is clearly a big fan of Grigg after he brought him on as an assistant for the Victorian team in State of Origin. <\/p>\n
Speaking of people with a Geelong background, could the Bombers disrupt another club\u2019s plans?<\/p>\n
Corey Enright \u2013 who some believe has been unofficially earmarked as Ross Lyon\u2019s successor at St Kilda \u2013 is another appealing option. The three-time premiership Cat currently serves as St Kilda\u2019s head of strategy and game plan and Lyon\u2019s sidekick. Enright pulled out of the Melbourne search last year to remain at Moorabbin. <\/p>\n
Sticking with the theme of people in successful environments, Brisbane footy boss Danny Daly is very highly regarded and been linked to coaching roles before. Chris Fagan\u2019s right-hand man has coaching credentials, too. Daly served six seasons on the Lions coaching panel, before being promoted to head of footy in late 2020. <\/p>\n
Cameron Bruce is another Fagan lieutenant as midfield coach at the Lions and coming off a 2025 campaign where he won the AFL Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year Award. Bruce was also Hawthorn\u2019s midfield coach during its three-peat of flags from 2013 to 2016.<\/p>\n
The same could be said of Hawthorn assistants Adrian Hickmott and David Hale, who\u2019ve been able to pick the brain of rising coach Sam Mitchell and only grown their reputation at the Hawks. Hickmott has been in the AFL coaching game for over a decade and recently said on SEN radio he was \u201cready\u201d to be a senior coach when asked about the Blues opening. Hale was at Fremantle for six seasons, before the triple premiership ruck returned to Hawthorn after Mitchell\u2019s appointment late in 2021.<\/p>\n
Technically an untried coach, Blues interim boss Josh Fraser is fast showing his chops with a 2-0 record since stepping in for Michael Voss. And coaches that were rucks certainly seem to be the flavour right now!<\/p>\n
Though Fraser said after his appointment he wouldn\u2019t go for the Carlton gig permanently, his record might become too hard to ignore – both for the Blues and Essendon. That said, there\u2019s still a lot of footy left in this season and the Blues could just be in the honeymoon phase with Fraser. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s not that Fraser has done anything groundbreaking in terms of tactics, but the way he\u2019s gotten the Carlton group to buy in is commendable. He returned to the Blues this season \u2014 where he was once the Northern Blues senior coach \u2014 after three years at the Pies.<\/p>\n
The Blues are 2-0 under Josh Fraser (Photo by Mark Brake\/Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
Blues senior assistant Ash Hansen is perhaps the one most would\u2019ve expected to replace Voss for the caretaker role. Hansen chose not to pursue the vacant Eagles position in 2024 and instead stay in Victoria for family reasons. He\u2019s been at the Blues for five seasons after nine years at the Western Bulldogs.<\/p>\n
Going back to the rucks trend, Bulldogs assistant Brendon Lade has been regarded as a senior coach in waiting. Lade was one of the final candidates for the Melbourne job and was in fact interviewed by the Bombers in 2022 before they went with Scott. Fellow Dogs assistant and 2024 AFL Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year, Daniel Pratt, is another name to watch. Pratt spent 10 seasons at the Eagles including during their 2018 premiership campaign.<\/p>\n
Highly-rated Fremantle assistant Jaymie Graham is another that\u2019s been in his fair share of coaching races. Graham has worked for both the Dockers and West Coast, as well as St Kilda. <\/p>\n
Brett Montgomery has also been in the coaching game for a long time. Montgomery, currently at the Giants after stints at Port Adelaide, the Western Bulldogs and Carlton, was an early contender for the vacant Eagles role in 2024 that was eventually won by Andrew McQualter<\/p>\n
It feels like Scott Burns has been linked to every coaching opening over the last decade, so maybe the ship has sailed. The ex-Magpie has working under Matthew Nicks at West Lakes for over five seasons after gigs at West Coast, Collingwood and Hawthorn.<\/p>\n
Tributes flow in for Neale Dainher | 02:25<\/p>\n
THE EXPERIENCED CAMPAIGNERS<\/p>\n
The Bombers went for a second-time coach in Scott just under four years ago and, ultimately, it didn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n
And the reality is most coaches who come back for a second shot don\u2019t tend to achieve premiership success. Mick Malthouse was the most recent success story in 2010 after the former Eagles coach led Collingwood to a flag. The only other two in the past three decades have been ex-Cats coach Malcolm Blight, who led the Crows to back-to-back flags in 1997-98, and former Magpies coach Leight Matthews, who famously guided Brisbane to its early-2000s threepeat.<\/p>\n
Having said that, there\u2019s few second-time coaches in the senior chairs across the league at the moment: Alastair Clarkson, Damien Hardwick and, until recently, Scott and Michael Voss.<\/p>\n
Ken Hinkley last year was reportedly on Essendon\u2019s radar during his final season as Port Adelaide coach. The Bombers, according to The Age, wanted Hinkley to take over as Essendon\u2019s director of coaching. Ultimately, Hinkley moved into a media commentary role and has been a brilliant addition to the Fox Footy team.<\/p>\n
Coincidentally, one of Hinkley\u2019s standout commentary moments so far this season was his assessment of Essendon during its massive Round 2 loss to Port Adelaide. As the Power played keepings off with Essendon in the third term, Hinkley delivered a scathing take on the Bombers\u2019 willingness, telling Fox Footy: \u201cI don\u2019t want to watch seven minutes of that type of footy \u2013 I want to see them keep pushing and keep going and keep delivering on growth \u2026 I don\u2019t want to see Essendon particularly just let that (kick to kick) happen. That\u2019s almost white flag.\u201d<\/p>\n
Essendon has already sounded out Ken Hinkley (Photo by Sarah Reed\/AFL Photos via Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
Premiership Eagles coach Adam Simpson will again be floated as a contender. Another star commentator since vacating a senior coaching role, Simpson has been relentlessly questioned over his desire to coach again in the AFL. Simpson only last week officially ruled himself out of the Carlton coaching search. Speaking on Fox Footy\u2019s AFL 360 last week, Simpson put a line through his name given \u201cit doesn\u2019t feel right\u201d after a \u201cvery brief\u201d conversation with the Blues as he\u2019s been working as a part-time coaching consultant \u2013 initially with Voss \u2013 at Ikon Park.<\/p>\n
Would a fresh role at Essendon appeal? Whether he\u2019d be prepared to take over a club in the middle of a rebuild \u2013 a couple of years after Simpson left the Eagles in the middle of their rebuild \u2013 remains to be seen.<\/p>\n
Nathan Buckley, clearly, still holds interest in coaching again one. The Magpies legend missed out on the Melbourne gig to Steven King, but quickly linked up with Geelong under Chris Scott where he\u2019s guiding the club\u2019s defensive group. Buckley has also been strongly linked to Tasmania\u2019s vacancy and remains in the running for that job.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s coached a \u2018big Victorian club\u2019 before in Collingwood \u2013 and took it to the 2018 Grand Final as part of a 10-season stint \u2013 but whether he\u2019d have the desire to take over the Bombers at this stage of their journey is the burning question.<\/p>\n
And then there\u2019s Swans premiership coach John Longmire. Earlier this month, Longmire refused to rule himself out for the Blues gig, telling AFL 360: \u201cFor me, these things tend to become clear over a period of time. I\u2019m happy to let that time play out. I understand the questioning and I understand there\u2019s a bit of interest in it. But I\u2019m not in the position at the moment in my own head to ascertain whether it\u2019s a yes or no.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the most respected coaches of the century, Longmire transitioned to coaching and took over from Paul Roos at Sydney at the end of the 2010 season. What followed was 14 years of sustained success, including the 2012 premiership and five Grand Final appearances. Remarkably, the Swans made finals in 12 of the 14 seasons under Longmire\u2019s leadership before he handed the coaching reins to assistant Dean Cox in late 2024.<\/p>\n
Longmire remains at Sydney as executive director of club performance, but that won\u2019t stop Essendon putting in a call \u2013 if it wants him \u2013 to a man who left the Swans coaching role with a record that\u2019s the envy of most of AFL counterparts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A second coaching domino has fallen. The axing of Brad Scott sees Essendon join Carlton, and technically Tasmania,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":694836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[1146,254759,638,14405,8406,107267,338865,24164,108574,64,63,689,55,639,321692,684,146722,3423,338845,338869,119661,338855,696,321689,338863,254516,214170,3244,338857,82830,309991,322554,322552,247363,20536,321687,338844,30901,146723,25297,111702,63402,40820,255937,10143,14385,321384,79155,40827,48824,245063,12148,143664,338848,71071,11231,338850,18664,2105,5126,338858,338866,338847,244525,321688,30404,168801,7484,86147,338861,80128,338862,338846,16712,338849,647,3257,7198,43892,94872,121920,677,21230,338864,338860,11315,6082,338867,75286,28879,80107,338868,12936,23508,116481,22401,48868,338853,182033,228972,8014,1124,85,1122,338851,338859,79260,86158,23826,338852,338856,49667,1144,13154,338854,40098,660,16710,698],"class_list":["post-694835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-adam-simpson","tag-adrian-hickmott","tag-afl","tag-alastair-clarkson","tag-andrew-mcqualter","tag-andrew-welsh","tag-ash-hansen","tag-assistant-coach","tag-assistant-coaching-role","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-back-to-back-minor-premierships","tag-ben-cotton","tag-ben-rutten","tag-ben-waterworth","tag-bendigo-gold","tag-blood-options","tag-board-member","tag-bomber-blood","tag-brad-scott","tag-breathtaking-high-handball-game","tag-brendon-lade","tag-cameron-bruce","tag-caretaker-role","tag-chris-fagan","tag-coach-led","tag-coaching-box","tag-coaching-consultant","tag-coaching-contenders","tag-coaching-domino","tag-coaching-game","tag-coaching-job","tag-coaching-panel","tag-coaching-races","tag-coaching-ranks","tag-coaching-reins","tag-coaching-role","tag-coaching-roles","tag-coaching-search","tag-coaching-vacancy","tag-corey-enright","tag-craig-mcrae","tag-damien-hardwick","tag-daniel-giansiracusa","tag-daniel-mcpherson","tag-daniel-pratt","tag-danny-daly","tag-david-hale","tag-dean-cox","tag-dean-solomon","tag-development-area","tag-development-coach","tag-essendon-bombers","tag-experienced-campaigners","tag-game-plan","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-giants","tag-holds-interest","tag-interim-coach-responsibilities","tag-interim-coaching-reins","tag-james-rahilly","tag-jaymie-graham","tag-john-longmire","tag-josh-fraser","tag-ken-hinkley","tag-kevin-sheedy","tag-leight-matthews","tag-leon-cameron","tag-malcolm-blight","tag-mark-mcveigh","tag-matthew-nicks","tag-media-commentary-role","tag-melbourne","tag-michael-voss","tag-michael-willson","tag-mick-malthouse","tag-midfield-coach","tag-northern-blues","tag-oceania","tag-paul-roos","tag-people-management","tag-plan-coaching-handover","tag-playing-career","tag-port-adelaide","tag-preliminary-final-campaign","tag-premiership-campaign","tag-premiership-success","tag-rodney-eade","tag-rucks-trend","tag-sam-mitchell","tag-sarah","tag-senior-assistant","tag-senior-coach","tag-senior-coaching","tag-senior-coaching-ambitions","tag-senior-coaching-role","tag-shaun-grigg","tag-simon-goodwin","tag-south-australia","tag-sports","tag-st-kilda","tag-standout-commentary-moments","tag-star-commentator","tag-steven-king","tag-stuart-dew","tag-success-story","tag-succession-plan-coaching","tag-supplements-program","tag-tim-watson","tag-tom-morris","tag-triple-premiership","tag-triple-premiership-ruck","tag-troy-chaplin","tag-victoria","tag-west-lakes","tag-western-bulldogs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=694835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/694836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=694835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=694835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=694835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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