McVeigh set to be named Essendon coach as Hird concedes
Mark McVeigh is set to be unveiled as Essendon's next senior coach, with an announcement expected as soon as 25 August, according to the ABC.
The 45-year-old has been working as an assistant to Sydney coach Dean Cox, running the Swans' backline. He played 232 games for Essendon across a 14-year career and was among the 34 players suspended over the club's supplements saga — the doping investigation that rocked the AFL in the early 2010s and resulted in season-long bans for involved players.
McVeigh reportedly fronted the Essendon board for a second presentation on 24 August. Fremantle assistant Jaymie Graham and Adelaide assistant Murray Davis were also in the running, but McVeigh emerged as the club's choice.
James Hird, the Essendon champion who was himself a candidate for the role, congratulated McVeigh publicly and called him a great friend. Hird told Nine on 23 August he had not yet received an official decision from the club. By 24 August, he confirmed he had fallen short and expressed disappointment at missing out.
This is the second time Hird has narrowly missed the Essendon job. He was pipped when Brad Scott was appointed in 2022. Hird's first stint as senior coach began in 2010; he was suspended for the 2014 season over the supplements saga fallout, returned in 2015, and resigned in August that year. At the time of this coaching race, Hird was working as director of coaching with VFL club Port Melbourne. He ruled out returning to Essendon in any other capacity but said he still had the passion to coach.
Essendon sacked Brad Scott in May 2026, triggering the search that has now landed on McVeigh. Interim coach Dean Solomon, who stepped in after Scott's departure, guided the club through a 2-21 season — the worst in Essendon's history. Solomon indicated on 19 August that the new coach would be named around early the following week.
The task ahead is steep. Two wins from 23 games leaves Essendon anchored to the bottom of the ladder, and the list requires serious attention. McVeigh knows the place intimately — as a player who gave his best years to the club, and as one who lived through its darkest chapter.
For Essendon fans, the appointment brings a familiar face back into the fold. McVeigh has spent recent years building his coaching craft in Sydney, away from the spotlight that follows everything Essendon. Now he inherits the rebuild.
