Brad Scott

Bradley David Walter Scott (born 3 May 1976) is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played for Hawthorn and the Brisbane Lions, and was previously the coach of the North Melbourne Football Club from 2010 until 2019 and Essendon Football Club from 2023 until 2026.

Scott currently ranks second behind Ken Hinkley for most AFL/VFL games coached without making a grand final, after surpassing Terry Wallace in 2024.

Playing career Hawthorn Scott was recruited to Hawthorn in the 1994 national draft at pick 60, without playing a game, he was delisted and then re-drafted by Hawthorn in the 1996 draft, where he won the reserves best-and-fairest. Making his senior debut in 1997, Brad played all 22 games and was seen as a very solid contributor, but was traded at the end of that season to the Brisbane Lions, enabling him to play in the same side as his brother Chris.

Brad Scott played a total of 22 games and kicked 6 goals in the 1997 season, for Hawthorn Football Club. Scott played his farewell game in Round 22 against the Saints.

North Melbourne (2010–2019) Scott had been a candidate for the vacant coaching position at Richmond, however he believed his skill set better suited North Melbourne far better and was appointed as senior coach of North Melbourne for the 2010 season, signing a three-year contract on 17 August 2009. Scott replaced caretaker senior coach Darren Crocker, who replaced Dean Laidley after Laidley resigned in the middle of the 2009 season.

Scott had a terrible start to his coaching career, with three of the first four matches resulting in losses, including a 104-point thrashing from 2009 runners-up St Kilda. Since then, North Melbourne made steady progress and finished outside the top eight on percentage. At the time, he held the record for most games coached at any one club in AFL/VFL history without making a Grand Final. Scott was then replaced by assistant coach Rhyce Shaw as caretaker senior coach of North Melbourne for the rest of the 2019 season, who was eventually appointed as full-time senior coach.

Essendon (2023–2026) Scott was appointed as the senior coach of Essendon for 2023 in September 2022. Scott replaced Ben Rutten, who was sacked as senior coach of Essendon at the end of the 2022 season.

In Scott's first season in charge in 2023, Essendon had an 8-5 win-loss record and were sitting 6th on the ladder at the time of their bye, however Essendon only won 3 of their final ten games post the bye with 7 losses, slumping to an 11th place finish. The season ended with a 126-point defeat to Greater Western Sydney followed by a 70-point defeat to .

Scott's second season in charge followed a similar script to the first, starting with an 8-2 record with one draw after 11 rounds, however after that point only won 3 of their final twelve games to again slump to 11th position, despite having sat 2nd after round 12. On the eve of the 2025 season, Essendon extended Scott's contract by another year to take him to the end of 2026 season.

Scott was sacked as senior coach of Essendon on 26 May 2026 in the middle of the 2026 AFL season after Round 11, 2026 due to poor on-field performance results where the club sat last on the ladder with one win and ten losses. Scott was then replaced by assistant coach Dean Solomon as caretaker senior coach of Essendon for the remainder of the 2026 AFL season.

Statistics Playing statistics

168 !! 45 !! 40 !! 1644 !! 972 !! 2616 !! 676 !! 311 !! 0.3 !! 0.2 !! 9.8 !! 5.8 !! 15.6 !! 4.0 !! 1.9 !! 7

Head coaching record

Controversies May 2024 comments about Tarryn Thomas In May 2024, while senior coach of Essendon, Scott said in a televised press interview that former North Melbourne player Tarryn Thomas was a "good person" and "deserved a second chance" despite a litany of criminal charges, including in 2023 when Thomas was charged with threatening to distribute an intimate image; Thomas was later stood down by the club, and the case was dropped, and Thomas was ordered to pay $1,000 to charity. The charge was Thomas's second over the 2022–23 AFL off-season after he was previously caught driving while his licence was suspended. Additionally, in a now-deleted Instagram video posted by Thomas, he appeared to have his feet up on a Mercedes dashboard while driving. Scott's comment in defence of Thomas was slammed by the public at large and by media personalities such as former AFL champion Jimmy Bartel, himself a staunch campaigner against domestic violence. Scott's comments were seen as particularly tone-deaf considering the AFL had an upcoming round bringing attention to victims of domestic abuse.

Personal life Scott's identical twin brother Chris Scott played alongside him at the Brisbane Lions and is now the coach of Geelong. Brad is the younger twin by a few minutes. The twins both attended St Kevin’s College, their fees aided by Legacy following the circumstances of their father's death when they were eight years old.

In September 2014, Scott's wife Penny gave birth to their first child, a son.

Scott's favourite film is Clueless and his favourite song is the Dire Straits single "Money For Nothing".