New Senior Coach Don Pyke intends to build on the strong foundations set by his predecessor Phil Walsh while carrying the Club forward into an exciting new era.

Pyke was announced as Adelaide’s eighth Senior Coach on Friday, taking on the Crows top job after almost three decades of experience in the sport.

Crows CEO Andrew Fagan described Pyke as “a perfect fit” for the Club after he impressed in an exhaustive four-hour interview in Brisbane on Wednesday night.

The American-born Pyke began his coaching career over 15 years ago following a successful playing career with WAFL club Claremont and West Coast, where he won a best and fairest and played in two AFL premierships.

Coaching stints with the Eagles, Adelaide and Fremantle followed before took a sabbatical from the sport to pursue business interests outside of football.

Pyke returned to the game in 2014, ironically to replace then West Coast midfield coach Walsh after he departed for Port Adelaide.

Now appointed by Adelaide as a first-time Senior Coach, Pyke said he hopes to turn a new page in the Club’s story that Walsh began to pen almost a year ago to the day.

“I’m very respectful of Phil and what he brought to the Club,” Pyke said in his press conference on Friday.

“He came in in a period when change was required and he started that change. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to see that through.

“There’s a lot of good things at this footy club, and a lot of those things were started by Phil. So my challenge is to come in and work with the things which are good, and try and identify the things that we can still improve further.

“(I’m) respectful of the past, but we need to move on as a footy club and we need to move into our next era, and that’s my responsibility as a leader to drive that.”

Pyke intends to develop his own brand of uncompromising football based on three pillars he believes are central to on-field success.

“My philosophy is pretty much based around playing ‘total football’,” he said.

“That’s the three phases of the game, and that’s our contested ball, our ball movement, and our team defence.

“I’ll be talking to our coaches about how we see our strengths and weaknesses in those areas, and then we get the opportunity to train those areas between November and March with a firm view from me as to exactly about how I’d like the game to be played.

“But I need to understand a bit about the playing list, a little bit about our players and their strengths and weaknesses as to the best way for us to play.

“But it will be around those three fundamental areas.”

Pyke was raised within a revered family boasting strong sporting lineage.

His father Frank was also a successful footballer in WA and was among the early pioneers of sports science and administration in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Don’s brother James was also a talented sportsman who played League football at Norwood and represented South Australia in cricket.

The elite habits his family has lived their entire lives will shape Pyke’s leadership with his players, coaches and Club staff.

“I want to create an environment whereby we’re focused on continual improvement, that’s not only our players but our coaches,” he said.

“We’re looking to create a place where people come to work energised, enthused about the prospect of getting better.

“It’s a tough industry that we’re in. We finished sixth (this) year, and the challenge will be to rise ourselves up the ladder.

“To do that, we need hard work and we need to create an environment which really is about educating our players and they can improve as we go.”

Pyke said he had already spoken with members of the senior leadership group by phone and lauded Taylor Walker’s efforts in his first season as captain.

He said he was eager to sink his teeth into the job, beginning with Adelaide’s trade and draft preparations.

“I’ve been in contact with the List Manager and also David Noble the Head of Footy,” Pyke said.

“I’ll probably be over there (in Melbourne) early next week. It’s good to probably finish with the formalities and…I can start having some input into that and be talking to players.

“But the reality is that I’ll lean pretty heavily on those guys. They’re across the list, they’re across what they think they need. I’ll be there to support them as much as anything, rather than telling them to go after Player A or B.

“I think it’s a very strong list. I’m very comfortable where the list is at.”