Coach Men's Senior Coach: Brad Scott

[Lance Uppercut]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, not only is it fantastic to see a game plan coming together but Brad has definitely put some balls, some guts back into is as well.

love putting balls in guts

 

[Lance Uppercut]

Brad has given us…something.

I can’t quite yet put my finger on what that is. We’re still prone to lapses in games, so I am not about to just say ‘guts’.

But there is something different. Belief? Purpose? Structure? Whatever it is..more, more and more please.

Essendon of the last decade does not win that game, against those campaigners. But we did tonight, and it’s down to whatever that indeterminate quality is.

All 3 I'd say. But for me, I still pinch myself seeing an Essendon side competently perform a form of full ground defense. We've never had that, ever, not since it was a thing. So structure is my biggest tick from Brad.

Additionally, he has the aura and strength of character to go toe to toe with the politically riven shitshow at the **** factory that Essadun is, so that's a major plus

 

[BLA60]

It goes to show when

1. The players buy into what the coach is selling.
2. What the coach is selling isn't "Plan A or bust" crap.

That you get results above what was anticipated.

He has also shown he can appreciate when the emotional moments need to be highlighted, but also when they don't.

Keep it up. Let's see what he can achieve with a full list.

 

[yodellinhank]

Brad Scott was 4 years behind in terms of his career though, and Voss had been playing for Brissy for 5 years when Scott finally moved up there in 1997.

Voss was drafted a few days after his 17th birthday in 1992. Scott was first drafted in 1994, didn’t play a game, then redrafted and played his first season for Hawthorn in 1996 before moving to Brisbane.

And Brad Scott has those boyish good looks.

 

[TheBrightSide]

I’m also onboard.
I like how he says “defence“ instead of ”deefence”.

 

[fairbump_playon]

I think saying Rutten not being bright is unfair. He was more not ready for our situation and it was more a teaching / connection issue. You have to be pretty switched on to get to the level he did .
One thing you can experience at any level of coaching is the total loss of an explanation when you train a certain system and style and then on game day the players do something totally different.
It comes down to how well you teach . I think it is more likely Truck was not ready or someone who may not have the ability to take the next step to senior coach but to say he was not too bright is not right. Nothing he said about where we needed to go was wrong.

Yeah fair enough.. he is likely a smart guy. But he clearly lacked something in his communication ability. He couldn't explain himself cleanly to the camera / media / supporters and he obviously couldn't get the message through to players.

I know you stand by where he said we need to go - and I agree with the direction he proposed. But honestly, anyone could have stood up and said the same thing about blue collar, defence first footy.

Truck is well regarded in club land so there's no doubt he has skills and insights. But it's not enough to say he was advocating the right direction. Your job as a coach is to teach. So maybe more accurately I should have said Truck was not talented enough to execute his vision.

 

[frodos gardener]

I know IQ is a crude measure of aptitude but for lack of any other metric and to draw a comparison, I think Rutten is your classic 110 IQ (just above average) whereas Brad is 125+ where he can discern and compare and articulate much better.

Rutten is smart enough but Brad seems smarter and with breadth and depth (and experience, which can’t be glossed over).

 

[Happyskeret]

I like how Brad coaches from the box. I don’t know why but I can’t stand it when coaches are coaching from the boundary line. It gives me bad vibes.

 

[ant555]

I know IQ is a crude measure of aptitude but for lack of any other metric and to draw a comparison, I think Rutten is your classic 110 IQ (just above average) whereas Brad is 125+ where he can discern and compare and articulate much better.

Rutten is smart enough but Brad seems smarter and with breadth and depth (and experience, which can’t be glossed over).

Brad had one advantage. He could see how it went wrong watching on the outside and also had access to other coaches in general discussion about the game in his role at the AFL. The fact is we are using the offensive plan we had under Truck. They have just come up with an user friendly defensive plan with less moving parts that ties into the offence.
As you say that extra experience , particularly at the AFL and his years at North to draw on what he would do better takes you a long way. Helps that he is a better media performer but that is not the be all and end all.
Truck was the wrong guy for our time. When he was head hunted to be the next coach the thoughts where not on rebuild . He lacked the experience , when he took over he had already been with our guys for a few seasons and the fatal thing he did was change his plan after 2021 which lost a lot of the players. He got sucked into the pressure of Essendon.
I would not say IQ had anything to do with it. Was more inexperience or not having the ability to bring the list together . A coach is a lot of things but generally they fail because teacher is not one of those things.

 

[frodos gardener]

Brad had one advantage. He could see how it went wrong watching on the outside and also had access to other coaches in general discussion about the game in his role at the AFL. The fact is we are using the offensive plan we had under Truck. They have just come up with an user friendly defensive plan with less moving parts that ties into the offence.
As you say that extra experience , particularly at the AFL and his years at North to draw on what he would do better takes you a long way. Helps that he is a better media performer but that is not the be all and end all.
Truck was the wrong guy for our time. When he was head hunted to be the next coach the thoughts where not on rebuild . He lacked the experience , when he took over he had already been with our guys for a few seasons and the fatal thing he did was change his plan after 2021 which lost a lot of the players. He got sucked into the pressure of Essendon.
I would not say IQ had anything to do with it. Was more inexperience or not having the ability to bring the list together . A coach is a lot of things but generally they fail because teacher is not one of those things.

Good points but I do think Scott at least conveys a peg up in his smarts, even if it’s just the ability to explain and break things down to understandable components.

One thing I really liked is how Scott said they made a mistake in not changing the matchup in the Cats game for Hawkins early enough, then corrected himself and said “I” made the error. The humility but also the awareness to recognise that mistake fairly quickly in the scheme of things differentiates him too.

 

[andleanback]

Not that I want to pour cold water on the Scott appreciation, but haven't our coaches usually had decent success in their first seasons?

We were 2-6 in ruttens first part of the season

 

[Here_we_come]

I know IQ is a crude measure of aptitude but for lack of any other metric and to draw a comparison, I think Rutten is your classic 110 IQ (just above average) whereas Brad is 125+ where he can discern and compare and articulate much better.

Rutten is smart enough but Brad seems smarter and with breadth and depth (and experience, which can’t be glossed over).

I know this is slightly off topic, but in terms of cognitive ability, IQ is an excellent tool and quite possibly the most reliable and valid instrument that psychologists have ever developed.

 

[jmoo wan]

Brad Scott is as white-collar as they come.

 

[justlookingaround]

Brad Scott is as white-collar as they come.

You reckon?
His dad was a vietnam vet who ran a newsagency, died when Brad and Chris were primary school aged - then his mum took over the business working 14 hour days as a single mum.
It was a different world back then, much kinder to sole traders and single income families. A lot more people could live what we nowadays consider a white collar life.

 

[jmoo wan]

You reckon?
His dad was a vietnam vet who ran a newsagency, died when Brad and Chris were primary school aged - then his mum took over the business working 14 hour days as a single mum.
It was a different world back then, much kinder to sole traders and single income families. A lot more people could live what we nowadays consider a white collar life.

So his parents were blue collar?

He has many assistants working for him and doing the heavy lifting, and he gets paid more than them.

 

[justlookingaround]

So his parents were blue collar?

He has many assistants working for him and doing the heavy lifting, and he gets paid more than them.

By that logic all coaches are white collar. Imo it’s your roots that stick with you, the environment you grew up in and the behaviours/work ethic you learn.

Not always true tho, for example my dad is a crazy hard worker and I’m lazy af.

 

[jmoo wan]

By that logic all coaches are white collar. Imo it’s your roots that stick with you, the environment you grew up in and the behaviours/work ethic you learn.

Not always true tho, for example my dad is a crazy hard worker and I’m lazy af.

my opinion is that the blue collar codswallop is just lazy bullshit

 

[bombadeer]

my opinion is that the blue collar codswallop is just lazy bullshit

That’s a very blue collar no bullshit kind of sentiment you’ve got going in there.

 

[justlookingaround]

my opinion is that the blue collar codswallop is just lazy bullshit

Do you mean in general or in football terminology?

Because I think it has some value as an easily digestible descriptive term for how you want a team to play.

As a societal group it definitely has less meaning that it did ~70 years ago, since trades that were considered blue collar jobs back in the day are some of the higher paying every man jobs in modern society.

 

[jmoo wan]

Do you mean in general or in football terminology?

Because I think it has some value as an easily digestible descriptive term for how you want a team to play.

As a societal group it definitely has less meaning that it did ~70 years ago, since trades that were considered blue collar jobs back in the day are some of the higher paying every man jobs in modern society.

i think both, and it is especially meaningless as a football term - it’s a lazy way to think about a team and a game plan

 

[Lore]

came from a corporate job at the AFL, can’t get much more white collar than that

 

[The Devils Advocate]

came from a corporate job at the AFL, can’t get much more white collar than that

Blue collar is a state of mind. If you ascend from the blue collar world it's offensive to be called white collared.

 

[Lore]

You reckon?
His dad was a vietnam vet who ran a newsagency, died when Brad and Chris were primary school aged - then his mum took over the business working 14 hour days as a single mum.
It was a different world back then, much kinder to sole traders and single income families. A lot more people could live what we nowadays consider a white collar life.

running a news agency would classify as either white or pink collar

Blue collar is manual labour paid by the hour or by the job, named as such for the durable blue uniforms that hide the dirt and grease. Like the truck driver or warehouse worker that facilitates the delivery of the papers and magazines to the shops.

apparently military is green collar although I think most military jobs fall into white and blue collar classifications anyway, aside from actual soldiering.

 

[Lore]

Blue collar is a state of mind. If you ascend from the blue collar world it's offensive to be called white collared.

Eh. I think you’re talking about class identity, which isn’t supposed to exist in Australia! (It definitely does.)

Families are full of people who are white, blue, grey, pink collar workers. You don’t inherit that (unless you’re a beneficiary of nepotism), but class identity and culture you certainly absorb in childhood.

 

[Old Campaigner]

Eh. I think you’re talking about class identity, which isn’t supposed to exist in Australia! (It definitely does.)

Families are full of people who are white, blue, grey, pink collar workers. You don’t inherit that (unless you’re a beneficiary of nepotism), but class identity and culture you certainly absorb in childhood.

Blue vs white collar has lost a lot of it's meaning over the past few decades anyway. These days the class divide is home owner vs renter