The following is a list of coaches who have coached the Essendon Football Club at a game of Australian rules football in the Australian Football League (AFL), formerly the VFL.
VFL/AFL Key: C = Coached W = Won L = Lost D = Drew * = Caretaker coach Statistics current as of end of 2026 season. No. Coach C W L D Career Span 1 Dave Smith 39 26 13 0 1908–1909 2 Allan Belcher 19 12 7 0 1910 3 Jack Worrall 243 156 85 2 1911–1915, 1918–1920 4 Percy Ogden 20 3 15 2 1920–1921 5 Sid Barker 43 31 11 1 1922–1924 6 Sam Gravenall 12 7 4 1 1922 7 Frank Maher 56 32 23 1 1925–1927 8 Charlie Hardy 54 30 23 1 1928–1930 9 Garnet Campbell 54 22 32 0 1931–1933 10 Charlie May 36 12 24 0 1934–1935 11 Jack Baggott 60 22 38 0 1936–1939 12 Dick Reynolds 415 275 134 6 1939–1960 13 Harry Hunter 2 2 0 0 1939 14 Les Griggs* 1 0 1 0 1941 15 Elton Plummer* 7 4 2 1 1944 16 Cec Ruddell* 2 0 2 0 1945–1946 17 Alan Thaw* 1 1 0 0 1959 18 John Coleman 133 90 40 3 1961–1967 19 Greg Sewell* 1 1 0 0 1965 20 Jack Clarke 65 33 30 2 1968–1970 21 John Birt 22 4 17 1 1971 22 Des Tuddenham 90 47 43 0 1972–1975 23 Bill Stephen 44 16 27 1 1976–1977 24 Barry Davis 67 30 36 1 1978–1980 25 Kevin Sheedy 634 386 242 4 1981–2007 26 Gary O'Donnell* 1 0 0 1 2006 27 Matthew Knights 67 25 41 1 2008–2010 28 James Hird 85 41 43 1 2011–2013; 2015 29 Simon Goodwin* 1 0 1 0 2013 30 Mark Thompson 23 12 10 1 2014 31 Matthew Egan* 3 1 2 0 2015 32 John Worsfold 107 45 61 1 2016–2020 33 Ben Rutten 44 17 27 0 2021–2022 34 Blake Caracella* 1 1 0 0 2022 35 Brad Scott 80 29 50 1 2023–202636Dean Solomon121110202637Mark McVeigh00002027–Present
AFL Women's Season(s) Coach Notes 2022 (S7)– Natalie Wood
References