2010 season, signing a three-year contract on 17 August 2009. Scott replaced caretaker senior coach Darren Crocker, who replaced Dean Laidley after Laidley resigned in the middle of the 2009 season. Scott had a terrible start to his coaching career, with three of the first four matches resulting in losses, including a 104-point thrashing from 2009 runners-up St Kilda. Since then, North made steady progress and finished outside the top eight on percentage. Although North Melbourne missed the finals for the second year in succession, Scott was rewarded with a contract extension as Kangaroos coach, with president James Brayshaw stating that he was satisfied with the club's progress under Scott. He led the team to 8th position and a spot in the finals at the end of the 2012 home and away season, with the side winning ten of its last twelve matches (including six in a row between Rounds 16–21) since a 115-point loss to Hawthorn in Round 10. The club was then defeated in their elimination final match against West Coast by 96 points. Following North Melbourne's disappointing season in 2013 after losing 10 matches by 16 points or less, the 2014 season began with a positive outlook as Nick Dal Santo was added to North Melbourne's list as a restricted free agent at the end of the 2013 season. With North Melbourne's now silky midfield looking strong, the success of the 2014 season saw Scott lead North Melbourne into his second finals series as coach after finishing 6th at the end of the premiership season. Winning their elimination final match against Essendon by 12 points, then defeating Geelong in the semi final to progress to Scotts' first preliminary final as coach against Sydney, but the 71-point loss ended North Melbourne's finals run. The beginning of the 2015 season once again saw Scott make some vital inclusions to North Melbourne's list, with the addition of tall-forward Jarrad Waite and medium forward/midfielder Shaun Higgins. Despite finishing 8th, Scott was under scrutiny after a highly controversial decision to rest 9 players in Round 23 against Richmond, which was deemed by many to be a form of 'tanking'. Scott's 'plan' however, proved to be successful after defeating Richmond in the elimination final the following week by 17 points and going on to defeat Sydney in the semi final to become the first ever team to reach a preliminary final after finishing