John Worsfold has been recognised for steering Essendon into the finals at the AFL Coaches' Association awards.
The Essendon Coach finished fourth in the Coach of the Year voting.
The award was won by Richmond Coach Damien Hardwick.
The Bombers premiership player polled 294 votes to edge out Grand Final opponent Don Pyke (283), with Sydney coach John Longmire (72), Worsfold (34) and Greater Western Sydney's Leon Cameron (31) rounding out the top five.
The award is named after coaching icon Allan Jeans and is voted on by more than 180 coaches at different levels of the AFL system.
Voting is conducted after the preliminary finals, with AFLCA members voting 3-2-1 on the coach of the year, taking into account the season's performance, available resources, player talent and team management.
This season, Worsfold led the Bombers to their first finals campaign since 2014.
He brought together a group featuring ten returning players and a group of young players who carried extra responsibility in 2016.
In addition to the team's improved performance, the Bombers had three players (Michael Hurley, Zach Merrett and Joe Daniher) named in the All Australian side and Andrew McGrath win the Rising Star.
In other awards, Adelaide premiership coach Malcolm Blight was inducted as an AFLCA coaching Legend.
Sydney's Rhyce Shaw was named the Assistant Coach of the year.
WAFL Legend John Dimmer won the lifetime achievement award. He won four premierships throughout a 284 game coaching career at West Australian clubs West Perth and South Fremantle.
