The coaching replacement for Phillip Walsh could come in the form of two men, not one, as Adelaide conceded the tragic death of its senior mentor could force another football department restructure.
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As the Crows embarked on their second coaching search in 10 months, chief executive Andrew Fagan said the club had not decided whether to seek a younger coach working under a senior coaching director or a more experienced coach in the mould of Walsh.
"We're in a unique situation and it may require a unique solution," said Fagan, whose first task on taking over as Adelaide chief was to appoint a replacement for the sacked Brenton Sanderson. "It's certainly a more unique situation than the one Carlton is facing at the moment.
"For the past two weeks we've been very much focused on the 'now'. But it's time to return to normality, to get the job done.
"The benefit we've got is we went through this process 10 months ago. We did our due diligence and we believe under Phil we were a long way to delivering on having the leading football program in the AFL."
Fagan said the coaching selection panel would again have football director Mark Ricciuto, football boss David Noble and himself reporting to chairman Rob Chapman. After having appointed Scott Camporeale as caretaker coach working under stand-in mentor John Worsfold, Fagan said he had accepted Worsfold's position that his was a temporary role and that he had no plans to move permanently to Adelaide.
"I'm not set in my mind at the moment whether we appoint one person to come in and directly replace Phil," Fagan said. "Or it could be we go down the previous path where Dean Bailey worked as our coaching director with Brenton Sanderson as senior coach.
"Phil's experience and his nature was that he neither wanted nor needed a coaching director but that might not be the case with a less experienced coach if we went down that path."
While Fagan refused to be drawn on the impending decision of Patrick Dangerfield – the restricted free agent can leave the club at the end of the season and the Crows are able to match any rival offer – Fairfax Media understands there has been no movement from the club in recent weeks towards the Dangerfield camp.
However, Dangerfield's manager, Paul Connors, flew to Adelaide on Monday to hold in-depth talks with his client regarding his playing future. The Crows' view is that they would rather the star midfielder reached a decision with a clear head and not make any move based on emotions alone.
But the Crows boss said the club under Walsh's stewardship had already achieved a significant new focus after restructuring its football IT and analysis division, its media and its sports science support. "We have embarked on a different style of play," he said. "[We've] lifted the standards we expect of our players and the culture embodied in all of this.
"So we're in a very different place now than we were 10 months ago. We've got a lot of things in place now."
Fagan said he did not plan to consult with the Adelaide on-field leadership group for at least another two weeks regarding the search for a new coach. He said extra counselling and forms of pastoral care remained in place for players, coaches and staff at Westlakes.
"The focus has very much been the focus of family, of Meredith [Walsh], of the playing group," he said. "And that group has been so impressive. They were so impressive on Sunday but that will be a waste if we don't follow up against Gold Coast this weekend.
"I'm sure Phil would have supported me in saying that. He'd already be embarrassed by all the attention placed on him. Well, not embarrassed, annoyed. He would be telling us to turn our attention to working to a place in the finals."
