{"id":699319,"date":"2026-05-28T04:56:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T04:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/699319\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T04:56:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T04:56:13","slug":"dean-solomon-wont-consider-chasing-full-time-essendon-coaching-job-denies-reports-of-brad-scott-rift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/699319\/","title":{"rendered":"Dean Solomon ‘won’t consider’ chasing full-time Essendon coaching job, denies reports of Brad Scott rift"},"content":{"rendered":"

Interim Essendon coach Dean Solomon says he currently has no interest pursuing the full-time role after replacing Brad Scott.<\/p>\n

Solomon will lead Essendon this weekend against West Coast after Scott was sacked on Tuesday despite being contracted through the 2027 season.<\/p>\n

Having previously served on Essendon’s board, Solomon joined Scott’s coaching staff at the end of last year after Daniel Giansiracusa’s departure to Hawthorn left a vacancy. He denied reports suggesting he and Scott had a rift.<\/p>\n

Scott’s sacking gives Essendon another chance to step out of Hird shadow<\/a><\/p>\n

Essendon finds itself at a clear demarcation point after sacking Brad Scott as the shadow of James Hird once again looms large over the troubled club.<\/p>\n

“I won’t even consider [taking the job full-time]. I think it’s really the wrong thing to do for me to entertain any thoughts around that,” Solomon told reporters on Thursday morning.<\/p>\n

“I’ve got to knuckle down \u2014 my last 48 hours has been chaos. I actually don’t have the capacity to take that top spot on at the moment.<\/p>\n

“It won’t be in-season \u2026 I might struggle, or dislike the role, so who knows \u2026 I won’t consider it in-season.”<\/p>\n

Solomon’s comments come just days after his former teammate James Hird spectacularly declared his desire to coach Essendon again, 11 years after his previous stint.<\/p>\n

\"Brad<\/p>\n

Dean Solomon denies rumours of a rift between him and departed Essendon coach Brad Scott (pictured). (Getty Images: Daniel Pockett)<\/p>\n

“I love the fact that he feels he’s in a position to want to coach again,” he said of Hird’s interest in returning to Essendon.<\/p>\n

“On a personal level I’m glad that’s the case. Whether that happens or not, I’ve got no\u2026 I’m not part of any of those discussions.”<\/p>\n

Hird’s public interest in the role has caused a stir in the AFL world, with potential candidates Adam Simpson and Ken Hinkley both suggesting they are not interested in the Essendon job due to Hird’s presence.<\/p>\n

Simpson was particularly scathing when discussing the impact of Hird’s public candidacy on Essendon’s coach hunt.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

West Coast’s 2018 premiership coach, Adam Simpson, refuses to be involved in a process that involves Hird. (AAP Image: Joe Castro)<\/p>\n

“What are they doing? It will be a one-man process at the moment. I can’t see anyone going for this job,” he told Fox Footy’s AFL360 on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

“Going for a job where you know there’s an inside running happening \u2014 I went for the Brisbane job [and Justin] Leppitsch got it.<\/p>\n

“I thought I’ll back myself in \u2026 but I didn’t realise Leigh Matthews was his [Leppitsch’s] mentor. I think Leigh might have been on the panel.<\/p>\n

“I don’t say it [the Brisbane process] was a boat race but, when I left, it I was like, ‘OK, how did that feel?’<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

John Longmire is the highest-profile candidate on the coaching market.\u00a0 (Getty Images: AFL Photos\/Robert Cianflone)<\/p>\n

“I really enjoyed the experience, but looking at it now it would be difficult to run for that [Essendon] position until they get that sorted. I think Ken [Hinkley] nailed it today.”<\/p>\n

Former Sydney coach John Longmire is also a contender for the Essendon job, as well as Carlton and Tasmania’s vacancies, and is arguably the most high-profile candidate.<\/p>\n

ABC Sport Daily podcast<\/a><\/p>\n

ABC Sport Daily is your daily sports conversation. We dive into the biggest story of the day and get you up to speed with everything else that’s making headlines.<\/p>\n

Unlike Hinkley and Simpson, Longmire has not ruled himself out of being involved in Essendon’s process.<\/p>\n

Amid speculation that Essendon president Andrew Welsh, also an ex-player at the club, would solely hunt an ex-player to be the next Bombers coach, Solomon disputed that narrative.<\/p>\n

“You don’t have to be an Essendon person to coach Essendon,” he said.<\/p>\n

“There’s so many examples of people who played at the club who coached the club, there’s people who haven’t played at the club\u2026<\/p>\n

“There’s a lot of success stories. You don’t have to be an Essendon person to coach this club.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Interim Essendon coach Dean Solomon says he currently has no interest pursuing the full-time role after replacing Brad…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":699320,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1146,638,64,63,696,143664,11231,48340,30404,7484,85],"class_list":["post-699319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-adam-simpson","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-brad-scott","tag-dean-solomon","tag-essendon-bombers","tag-james-hird","tag-john-longmire","tag-ken-hinkley","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699319","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=699319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/699320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=699319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=699319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=699319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}