Dear Members,
On behalf of the Essendon Football Club Board, 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.
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. 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 coaching sub-committee met for the final time this afternoon to finalise their recommendation. This recommendation was then fully endorsed by the Board at a meeting this evening.
The group consisting of Robert Walls, Jordan Lewis, Simone McKinnis OAM, Andrew Thorburn, Dorothy Hisgrove and Josh Mahoney (Chair) all worked incredibly hard over the past month to reach their recommendation. I would like to thank each member of this group for their professionalism and commitment to confidentiality throughout this process.
The sub-committee was designed to bring a unique and diverse lens to the coaching process. I have been incredibly impressed with their work and as a Board, we have enormous confidence in the outcome it delivered.
Throughout the process, it was clear the club required a strong leader and Brad’s track record as a player, coach and administrator demonstrated this.
Brad is a two-time premiership player with the Brisbane Lions. He was an assistant coach at Collingwood for three years before becoming the senior coach of the North Melbourne Football Club for 10 seasons. He then transitioned to the GM of Football role at AFL House for the past three years. 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.
We look forward to Brad getting started with us and working closely with the broader club and the football department for what will be an important pre-season.
To our players, staff and members, please join me in welcoming Brad, his wife Penny and his two children Fletcher and Harry into the Essendon family.
This is a clearly a significant day and another positive step forward for the club. We are under no illusions about the hard work ahead of us. By the same token, we are excited about the challenge of building a club that our members are proud of and one that delivers sustained on-field success.
Thank you and go Bombers,
Dave.
