Premiership mentors Mick Malthouse and Paul Roos will be wooed as Adelaide pledge to land the best AFL coach in the nation to replace Neil Craig.

Craig on Monday quit as Crows coach in a bid to release pressure on his embattled club, enduring its worst season.

"If I could quarantine the pressure to myself, it would be OK," Craig told reporters.

"But I can't do that, of course, because it starts to effect everyone in the football club ... so in the end, you need to make a call about what is best for our club."

Adelaide's only premiership captain, Mark Bickley, was appointed caretaker coach for the remainder of the season but was warned by club hierarchy he didn't have the inside running to replace Craig.

"For Mark, it comes with no guarantees," Adelaide chief executive Steven Trigg told reporters.

"But believe me, from next week, we are going after the best possible coach in the nation.

"... If there is any upside to this whatsoever, it's that we get off the long run in terms of our search for a senior coach. We can be out in the market place. We get a look at a whole range of things."

Along with Malthouse, who will step down as Collingwood coach at the end of the season, and the retired Sydney hero Roos, Hawthorn premiership coach Alastair Clarkson can expect to be contacted by the Crows given his negotiations with the Hawks are on hold.

Bickley, who has been an assistant to Craig since 2009; West Coast assistant coach Scott Burns; former Crows captain Simon Goodwin, now an Essendon assistant; and ex-Crows defender Nathan Bassett, now coaching in the SANFL, are other touted candidates.

Craig said his decision to end his tenure as Adelaide's longest serving coach was solidified by a crushing 103-point loss to St Kilda last Friday night, when the Crows logged their lowest score.

"I just knew it was time," said Craig, who coached Adelaide since round 14, 2004 after his predecessor Gary Ayres was sacked.

Craig retained belief he could have achieved success as Crows coach but deemed that irrelevant in the greater scheme.

"Purely from a personal indulgence point of view, I don't want to leave," he said.

"It is always tough when it comes to the final decision, but the key thing here is that it's the right decision.

"There is no doubt in my mind that it's the absolute best decision for the Adelaide Football Club because of the pressure that mounts, through our performances, so I take responsibility for why the pressure is there, absolutely."

The Crows have won just four games this season but Craig was adamant he had not "lost" his players.

"Because of the lack of performance, the pressure builds and it's now time to relieve that pressure so our guys can actually perform under a clean slate," he said.

Roos told FoxSports' On The Couch program he felt Bickley, Burns and Goodwin would be leading candidates.

"I think it will be a South Australian," Roos said.

"Burns has come from a great pedigree.

"Will they go with a John Worsfold model of a dual premiership captain Mark Bickley?

"Also Simon Goodwin was a terrific player for Adelaide."

Roos guided Sydney to a flag in 2005 after taking over as caretaker coach midway through the 2002 season.

He said Bickley needed to go with his instincts.

"It's difficult. You can end your coaching career in six weeks or you can begin, hopefully, a long coaching career," Roos said.

"In the end, you just have to take the chance and back yourself in.

"He won't change a lot. He'll just rely on a bit of freshness, a bit of newness.

"Hopefully, the players are getting on really well with him in the initial stages, giving them back a little bit of confidence and hope things go well."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP