Essendon has sacked Brad Scott as senior coach.
The terrible loss to Richmond pushed the Bombers to outright 18th spot on the ladder after just one win from 11 starts.
“Brad is a resilient, stoic leader who gave everything to this football club and to the people in it. He came to Essendon with a clear set of values and he never compromised them, through good times and difficult ones,” Essendon president Andrew Welsh said.
“We appreciate the sacrifices he made for our club and thank him for his commitment and professionalism. Brad leaves a legacy with the decisions he made in building our list which were always Club first.
“Ultimately, whilst we know we are a young team, we are not comfortable with our current position which led us to meet as a Board to assess and make a decision on the future of the Senior Coach position.
“When looking at the overall progress of our football team this season, it was agreed that we needed a fresh voice to take the club forward for the 2027 AFL Season. Once that decision was made, it would have been unfair to have Brad continue as coach any longer and that is why we have brought this decision forward to today.
“While long-term decisions have been clear and provide great hope for our future, we still need to show progress week to week, and we haven't seen that this year. These are genuinely difficult decisions, and we do not take them lightly but the cumulative nature of our losses and the key performance indicators set by the club at the start of the season are not trending in the right direction,” Welsh said.
“In recent years we have transitioned our playing list, overhauled our high-performance department and enhanced our list and recruiting division and today we made the difficult decision to change our senior coaching structure.
“We have been extremely clear on the strategy and direction of our football club. We are building the next successful era for Essendon, with a view to playing finals, winning finals and competing for premierships.
“There is a lot to be gained from the second half of the season and we won't waste the opportunity to develop and improve our performances.
“We know recent times have been hard for Essendon people, and we feel that deeply. We are confident the best days for this football club are ahead of us and we are excited about the future.”
It's understood Scott will be paid out around $1.5 million.
Scott joined Essendon ahead of the 2023 season after the club parted ways with Ben Rutten.
Despite an injury-riddled list over the past 18 months, Essendon has made the decision to move on from the two-time premiership player after 80 games and no finals.
He was victorious on 29 occasions.
Scott was contracted until the end of 2027 after penning a one-year extension in March last year.
Dean Solomon is tipped to step in as the caretaker coach.
The decision coincides with Carlton, who moved on from Scott's teammate Michael Voss a fortnight ago while Tasmania continues their search for an inaugural coach.
