The man leading the Essendon coaching race went for the job before. He finished last
It’s been revealed that “preferred” Essendon senior coach candidate Dean Solomon finished last in the Bombers’ 2022 coaching race.That’s according to Midweek Tackle’s Scott Gullan, who explained on Fox Footy on Tuesday night that three-and-a-half years ago, Solomon was rated fifth in a group of five Dons coaching hopefuls.Watch every match of every round of the AFL Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.It comes following his reporting earlier this month that Solomon, the club’s interim coach after Brad Scott’s sacking, is president Andrew Welsh’s ideal candidate as Essendon seeks a new mentor.“As we know, he (Solomon) is the preferred candidate of president Andrew Welsh,” Gullan began on Midweek Tackle.“But we can tell you tonight that four years ago, when the Bombers went through the process … there were five candidates interviewed … Dean Solomon finished last of five.“Brad Scott came in late … he had to have his arm twisted to take part in it. James Hird was right there - he almost had the job, which we’ve known about.“Underneath them was Adem Yze, now the Richmond coach, and Brendon Lade from the Bulldogs, and then there was Solomon.“Why this is relevant is because now, four years on - we still don’t know what the process is (this year) - his (Welsh’s) man, at that point four years ago, was rated fifth out of five.”Before this year, Solomon’s most recent AFL coaching experience came in the 2022 season, when he was a part-time assistant coach at the Giants under former teammate Mark McVeigh for half a season.The 2000 Essendon premiership player stepped away from the AFL scene after 2022, coaching the Tweed Coast Tigers in the QFA Division 2 South between 2023 and 2025, before returning early last year to undertake his Essendon board role.“The discussion point is James Hird is getting whacked all over the place for not having part of the AFL system - he was at least with Port Melbourne in the VFL,” Gullan said.“So, the question is, Solomon … he finished fifth four years ago, what has changed? It’s a dilemma for Essendon.“The suggestion back then was that his passion for Essendon was obvious, he was very much a players’ coach, he could lift players … but tactical input wasn’t big in his presentation.“Tactics - how big are they? You can get a good couple of assistant coaches. It’s more about man management, etcetera, (but) tactics was the one issue that stood for the panel four years ago.”Hird has publicised his desire to again coach Essendon, while Solomon remains focussed on coaching the Bombers in the short term - currently winless from three games.Midweek Tackle panellist Glenn McFarlane inferred that Solomon’s purported tactical shortage could be offset by savvy assistants supporting him.“You’ve just got to look at some premiership coaches in recent times - Chris Fagan (entrusted) a lot of his assistants to get that coaching philosophy through,” he said on Fox Footy.“He did the overarching stuff, but the pure tactical stuff often went to some of the assistants. That’s not to denigrate what Fagan has done, and there’s probably a similar thing with Craig McRae as well.“It’s not as important as you need the right people around you as well. So, I think that’s the key element to that.”McFarlane also revealed Essendon legend Kevin Sheedy’s stance on the suggestion of a dual-coach outcome at the Bombers.“Mark Harvey last Friday actually did say that it could be shared between two people - and the inference to that was Solomon-Hird, which is fascinating,” McFarlane said.“But I’ve spent some time today with Kevin Sheedy, who said under no circumstances James Hird would look at a shared role with Dean Solomon.“He was very strong on that. He did say that James would do whatever he could for the Essendon Football Club, in whatever shape, but he doesn’t see it as being an assistant coach.”
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