Career
Prior to serving in this role, he served as the head coach of Victorian Football League (VFL) club Box Hill from November 2008 to October 2010, guiding the club to two consecutive finals series in his two seasons in charge. At age 19, Bolton was fortunate to play in the 1998 TFL Grand Final. At twenty four, Bolton was appointed Captain-coach of North Hobart and he led them to the 2003 premiership.
His playing career was cut short by a hamstring injury in 2008.
Brendon Bolton served as the head coach of Southern Football League club North Hobart, guiding the club to a Southern Football League Premiership in 2003. Bolton served as the head coach of Victorian Football League club the Tasmanian Devils in 2006, taking over from former Fitzroy and North Melbourne player Matthew Armstrong, who left the club due to internal pressure from the Devils" playing group.
He served as head coach for the remainder of the season, after which he was replaced with former Sydney Swans player Daryn Cresswell. In 2008, Bolton served as the head coach of the Clarence Football Club in the Tasmanian Football League.
Bolton was appointed the head coach of the Box Hill Hawks on 6 November 2008.
In his first season with the club in 2009, Bolton enjoyed a relatively successful season in charge, the Hawks finishing 5th on the VFL ladder, with 12 wins and 6 losses. The Hawks defeated Geelong in the First Elimination Final, before narrowly losing an epic semi-final to Portuguese Melbourne 19.10(124) to 19.14 (128). In Bolton"s second season in charge of the club, the Hawks built on their improved form in 2009 with another strong performance in 2010.
After an indifferent start to the season, the team came home strongly with seven consecutive wins in the second half of the season to again finish 5th on the ladder, with 11 wins and 7 losses.
The Hawks met the Bendigo Bombers at the Box Hill City Oval in the First Elimination Final, prevailing by 65 points, 20.16 (136) to 10.11 (71). In tense a match played in quagmire conditions at North Portuguese Oval, the Hawks defeated Portuguese Melbourne for the first time in a finals game 14.11(95) to 12.17(89), with the winning goal coming in the dying seconds.
The following week, the Hawks met North Ballarat in the Preliminary Final at the Box Hill City Oval. Despite enjoying home ground advantage, the Hawks went down to the Roosters 16.18 (114) to 6.17 (53) who went on to claim the VFL premiership the following weekend.
As a result of his good performances as the head coach of Box Hill, Bolton was promoted to an assistant coaching role with the club"s American Federation of Labor-Congress affiliate Hawthorn.
Hawthorn
He was the interim coach of the Hawthorn Football Club after head coach Alastair Clarkson was hospitalised and diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome in May 2014. After five matches, Clarkson received an endorsement from his doctors to resume his role as head coach. Bolton is the only man in the club"s history to coach the club to five successive victories in his first five games.
Carlton
On 25 August 2015, Bolton was announced as the head coach of the Carlton Football Club for the 2016 season, succeeding interim coach John Barker who had been filling in for the sacked Mick Malthouse.
