Don Pyke Biography

Don Pyke is appointed as West Coast's new CEO.

"I am excited to be returning home to a club I love in the West Coast Eagles where I have such wonderful memories and am proud and honoured to be given the responsibility to lead the club forward," Pyke said.

"This is a pivotal time for our club, our people and our supporters to pursue excellence to attain success again. I am very much looking forward to working with everyone across the entire organisation as we build towards the 2024 season."

Sydney assistant Don Pyke says he is considering pursuing the vacant Collingwood coaching role.

"It's something (Collingwood job) I'm thinking about at the moment, there's conversations I'm having with my wife and myself, to be honest. Is that the next step for me, is the timing right for me?" Pye said.

"It'll be an alignment of all those things, and I'll reach a decision on what it is and whether I throw my hat in the ring, time will tell."

Don Pyke will join Sydney in 2021 after accepting an assistant coaching role at the Swans under John Longmire.

"He brings with him a wealth of experience, is strategically minded and is passionate about developing players to be part of successful teams," Sydney football boss Charlie Gardiner said.

Don Pyke stands down as senior coach of the Crows after four seasons at the helm, in a stint that included the 2017 Grand Final loss to the Tigers.

"It has been an absolute privilege and joy to coach this club and I have loved my time here trying to achieve great things with our players for our members and fans," Pyke said.

"I came here with the aim of helping our players to individually and collectively be the best they can be and this has been my driving force.

"It has been a wonderful ride with some great memories and unfortunately some sad times, but now it is clear to me it is my time to move on knowing I have given my all.

"This decision has been extraordinarily difficult to reach but vital for me is the club and playing group being able to move forward, and the health and happiness of important people in my life."

Adelaide board member Mark Ricciuto says everyone at the club, from the top down, is under the microscope after a disappointing 2019 season.

"You have to make sure you have the right footy department," Ricciuto told Triple M radio.

"If anyone has got to go, whether it's me, Pykey (coach Don Pyke) or Brett Burton or the captain (Taylor Walker), the club is more important than the individual.

"The club will do an internal review as we always do, and they'll do an external review with people who have got nothing to do with the football club and then get the information from both and make a decision from there.

"Everyone wants the right thing for the Adelaide Football Club and I'm certainly not going to stand in the way. If I'm the problem I'll be gone, and I'm sure if Pykey knew (that), he'd be gone as well."

Adelaide coach Don Pyke has laughs off speculation he had a physical altercation with forward Josh Jenkins.

"The concept of Josh and I being involved in a physical altercation is laughable, but I take it quite personally because it's disrespectful to suggest me as a coach would get involved with something like that with one of my players," Pyke said.

"I'm 80kg, he's 100kg, I'm not sure how that's going to work. If it's not as serious as it is, it's laughable."

Adelaide coach Don Pyke has made it clear he and his coaches were laughing at the antics of their own players, and not Gold Coast's performance, during their 95-point massacre of the Suns at Metricon Stadium.

In his post-game media conference, Suns coach Stuart Dew took exception to the Crows' coaches laughing as they cruised to victory.

"Look at the Crows' coaches' box in the last quarter," Dew said on Saturday night.

"They laughed in the last quarter. We've got to live with that. That stings, it's got to sting ... that's what they think of us."

Pyke later clarified what the coaches were laughing at.

"We were reacting to one of our own players, Tex (co-captain Taylor Walker), calling for a handball in the goalsquare," Pyke said.

"I could probably see where (Dew) was coming from, but the reality was, it was a moment in the box. It wasn't any way, shape or form directed at Gold Coast and their performance."

Adelaide coach Don Pyke engages in a muted, minute-long face-off with his players at three-quarter time of Adelaide's 91-point thrashing to Melbourne.

"I was trying to engage them and just bring them back to the present and try to actually get them to feel what was going on," he said.

"I don't think there was any point at that point in ranting and raving at them.

"We had a good conversation about what we wanted to stand for in the last quarter."

Crows coach Don Pyke says he doesn't regret the club's contentious pre-season training camp, which has come under media scrutiny with reports certain players found it to be mentally stressful.

"It was a camp which we went on based on areas we wanted to get better," Pyke said.

"I'll never be an apologist for us trying to improve. The mental space is a space where you're seeing a fair chunk of the clubs are working in."

Adelaide captain Taylor Walker says he personally found the camp rewarding.

"The camp we went on with footy was personally one of the most beneficial and rewarding camps I've ever been on," Walker said.

"There was elements of the camp we delved into that (tested) the mental side (of the players), but we think we can get an advantage over the other teams in the competition."

Don Pyke re-signs as head coach of Adelaide until the end of the 2021 season.

"It's an honour and a privilege to be able to coach at such a proud club like the Crows, and I am grateful to continue in my role," Pyke said.

"Just like the playing group and everyone else at the Crows, I'm driven and determined to achieve sustained success for this club."

Adelaide key defender Daniel Talia credits Crows coach Don Pyke for their advance into the 2017 Grand Final.

"That message on the first day was, ‘I'm not here for myself for a pay cheque or I'm not here for my own fame, I'm here to create something special with the group’, and I think the boys really related to that," Talia said about Pyke's early words to the team.

"He's such a selfless guy and he just loves being around successful teams. It's all about the team, it's never about an individual.

"I think the boys have really related to that and to hear that on the first day was pretty special."

Brisbane coach Chris Fagan defends expressing his interest in Charlie Cameron despite his Adelaide counterpart Don Pyke being displeased with his comments coming mid-season.

"I was asked a question on radio to which I gave a hypothetical answer," Fagan said.

"If a player was interested in returning home, then of course we would talk to him.

"I think people would be better off just to have a closer listen to the answer I gave to that question rather than shooting from the hip, because it was not my intention to upset the Adelaide Crows footy club."

Adelaide coach Don Pyke fires a broadside at Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan for flagging his interest in Crows young forward Charlie Cameron.

"He's under contract so he's going nowhere," Pyke said on Wednesday.

"It's unusual you would see comments about players who are under contract.

"I don't think it's appropriate you talk about players at other clubs that are under contract."

Crows coach Don Pyke says he was in desperate need of a break by 2016's end.

"I must admit I was due a break and I'd been spinning the wheels a bit," Pyke said.

"I continued to work through until the end of the trade period, and then from there I went away with my wife and a friend to Africa for a week and had a look at a game park and played some golf.

"The year was pretty full on and it's important I stayed fresh, otherwise if I start getting fatigued (it affects) my messaging and my moods and ultimately the players can feel that."

Adelaide coach Don Pyke admits there's no guarantees being a head coach won't turn him into a raving lunatic.

He hopes not - but Pyke says he'll find out in the Crows' season-opener against North Melbourne when he debuts in the position.

"The players, I think, want to see a level of emotion because it's important to show engagement in the game and what they're doing," Pyke said.

"Does that mean I'm going to become a raving lunatic? Hopefully not.

"But I'd like to think I'll be engaged in the game and be able to work with the players to achieve the best outcome."

Adelaide appoints Don Pyke as its new senior coach for the next three years.

The West Coast premiership player was selected by the Crows' sub-committee after a lengthy selection process.

"After three decades at the top level in a variety of roles, I am now well prepared for the challenges and hard work that comes with being a senior coach," Pyke said.

"I am also passionate about fostering a winning culture and united approach where everyone has a focus on doing what is best for the team.

"Adelaide has earnt great respect across the AFL and there is a lot to like about the framework already in place.

"I am looking forward to working with the players, assistant coaches and other football department staff to make the most of the opportunities that lie ahead."

Don Pyke joins the Eagles as an assistant coach and will focus on strategy, stoppages and structure under new coach Adam Simpson.

"After several years out of the AFL scene, I am really looking forward to working with Adam Simpson and the other coaches in maximising the output of the squad, which I think has real potential," Pyke said.

"It is nice to be back working at the club I played for as we prepare for the challenge to rebound after a disappointing season."