Essendon will seek the advice of former AFL coaches Danny Frawley and Terry Wallace as they attempt to find an interim senior coach for 2014.
The Bombers on Monday named a selection panel of five that also includes football director Chris Heffernan, interim chief executive Ray Gunston and human resources manager Hailey Grimes.
Gunston says the panel met for the first time over the weekend.
Senior coach James Hird’s 12-month ban expires in August 2014.
Frawley, who is the AFL Coaches’ Association chief executive, is a non-voting member of the panel.
“The selection panel has met and set the framework for the upcoming recruitment process,” Gunston said.
“The process will be comprehensive and is expected to be completed in the next three to four weeks.
“We appreciate the appointment of an interim senior coach is a unique position for the club and for the candidates to be in.
“The role has been designed to fit into a longer-term structure of the football department and will incorporate a future position within our coaching group.”
The AFL Commission in August fined the Bombers $2 million, banned them from the finals series and docked them draft picks after the club pleaded guilty to bringing the league into disrepute over their use of supplements in 2011-12.
Hird was banned for 12 months.
Essendon assistant coach Simon Goodwin, who coached the club in their last-round match after Hird’s ban was announced, is a candidate for the vacant top job at Brisbane.
“If you get the opportunity to coach your own team for a long period of time it’s probably an opportunity you can’t knock back,” Goodwin said.
Goodwin’s fellow Essendon assistant Sean Wellman on Monday stepped down after three seasons to pursue other business and career opportunities.
Wellman, an Essendon premiership player in 2000, said he thoroughly enjoyed his coaching stint at Windy Hill.
“This decision does not have anything to do with the events of this year,” he said.
“While I wanted to help the club work through the challenges ahead, the timing to pursue further study and business interests was right for me and at a point in my career that I couldn’t ignore.”
