James Hird at centre of staggering call after Brad Scott sacked as Essendon AFL coach
The Bombers are in the market for a new coach.
AFL great Garry Lyon has made the staggering call for Essendon to hand the coaching reins back to James Hird after Brad Scott was sacked on Tuesday. Scott has paid the price for the Bombers’ woeful start to the 2026 season, winning just one of 11 games.
Earlier this year they equalled their club-record losing streak of 17 games, which included their final 13 matches of 2025. Scott departs after 80 games in charge of Essendon for a record of 29 wins, 50 losses and a draw.
Responding to the news of Scott’s sacking on SEN radio, Lyon questioned whether it’s finally time for the Bombers to bring Hird back. Hird is a club legend, playing 253 games for the Bombers and coaching them for 85 more.
His stint as coach was marred by the supplements scandal, which resulted in a one-year ban. He returned to the role in 2015 but resigned near the end of that season due to poor results.
(Craig Dooley/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Hird’s return as coach would be hugely polarising, but Lyon said on Tuesday morning: “There is no clear air at that footy club until such time as he’s given his go, and I think this paves the way for the return of Hird.
“I might be way off the mark but that’s the way I’m reading it. There would be a pro-Hird camp and an anti-Hird camp and until you either get success or give Hirdy a go, that will remain a fractured footy club.”
Essendon great Tim Watson said: “I get the feeling there is a very, very strong push from a lot of people out there for the return of James Hird. I don’t know whether he wants to put himself through that process.”
Hird interviewed for the Essendon job when it went to Scott in 2023. Watson revealed on Tuesday that Hird was “second in line” if Scott didn’t get the gig, with Kevin Sheedy the only member of the panel who didn’t vote for Scott.
Oh Brad Scott, how I wish you could have stayed on and continued your duty to football to keep Essendon at the bottom of the ladder.
Our only hope now is the re-appointing of James Hird 🙏😫
— Nick (@nfrancis_) May 25, 2026
Kane Cornes blasts Essendon coaching ‘mess’
Kane Cornes labelled the situation as an “absolute mess” and blasted the Essendon board. “I can’t imagine what he (Scott) is feeling right now,” Cornes said. “I can’t imagine what he thinks the club thought he could have done better given the situation he has been put in.
“Senior players started to sook it up and then at the ned of the year, Zach Merrett wants to blow the whole joint up and get out. It’s been a bit more of the same this year. Instability it seems at board level, they lost a few assistant coaches, players get upset again and feel like they could be in a better environment.
“You win one game and then it’s all over. From a club that was definitely on the right track to a club that is once again in an absolute mess. It is extraordinary the way that Essendon has been run for a long time.”
Source: https://au.news.yahoo.com/james-hird-at-centre-of-staggering-call-after-brad-scott-sacked-as-essendon-afl-coach-225313035.html
