Following the 112-point beat down by Adelaide this past weekend, embattled Essendon coach James Hird has resigned. Essendon and Hird have been in the hot seat since the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (Asada) launched an investigation into the Bombers' supplements program in 2012, according to the Guardian. For his role in the scandal, Hird was handed a 12-month suspension and 34 former and current players were implicated before being acquitted by the AFL's doping tribunal. The World Anti-Doping Authority (Wada) has since appealed that decision
Hird led the Bombers to the finals in his first year with Essendon in 2011, but was hit-and-miss in the following years, before taking 2014 off in accordance with his suspension. His 2015 performance has been less than stellar and seemingly the final straw for the coach. The 2015 season drama compounded when he suffered a severe concussion last month bicycling home from training, landing him in the hospital.
Club chairman Paul Little says that the club could not truly move on from the drug saga as long as Hird remained a coach. "These players have to be allowed to play. It's not just about me resigning or moving on, the industry has to let them play and give them some space, " Hird claimed, according to AFL.com.
Little also announced his own plans to leave the role as the club's chairman when the club's WADA proceedings concluded, according to The West Australian. Assistant coach Matthew Egan will fill in on an interim basis and carry the team through the last three matches of the 2015 season.
The search begins for a permanent replacement for Essendon's 2016 season.
