Geelong assistant Brenton Sanderson has been appointed coach of AFL club Adelaide.

The Crows on Monday confirmed the 37-year-old would coach the club from next season.

Sanderson beat a field of candidates including West Coast assistant Scott Burns and Adelaide's dual premiership captain Mark Bickley for the job.

He is the second coach to be appointed at an AFL club on Monday, following the Western Bulldogs' naming of Brendon McCartney as their new mentor.

Sanderson immediately stepped down as a Geelong assistant coach, a role he had held for the past five years.

Adelaide chief executive Steven Trigg said Sanderson's appointment had unanimous support from the five-member coaching selection panel and the club's board.

"The club undertook a really exhaustive selection process and our clear conclusion is that Brenton is ready," Trigg said in a statement on Monday.

"He has the skills, experience, plans and personal qualities.

"Brenton has worked incredibly hard, he has faced a number of setbacks early on and emerged strong and successful, and in successful environments.

"There is no question of his leadership qualities."

Sanderson has been contracted as Adelaide coach for the next three seasons.

He will be the sixth coach of the Crows but the first former player to fill the role, having played six games for the club in 1992-93.

Sanderson was then traded to Collingwood, where he played four games in one season before again being traded to Geelong.

He played 199 games for the Cats and won the club's best and fairest in 2001, overcoming the disappointment of being dropped from Geelong's side for the 1995 grand final.

Sanderson retired from playing at the end of the 2005 and returned to South Australia as a development coach at Port Adelaide.

After one season in that position, he returned to Geelong as an assistant coach.

Adelaide's club champion Scott Thompson praised Sanderson's appointment.

"There has been a lot said about it ... over the last six weeks (since) the departure of Neil Craig," Thompson said while entering the All Australian function in Melbourne.

"He (Sanderson) had a fair bit of success along the way and to be where he is now and part of a successful environment ... I'm sure he'd do Adelaide proud."

Geelong defender Matthew Scarlett, who worked closely with Sanderson at the Cats, sang the praises of the newly appointed Crows coach.

"I'm really thrilled he got a chance to go back to his home town and coach what I think is a great club," Scarlett said before the All Australian function.

Sanderson will speak publicly about his appointment at a media conference in Adelaide on Tuesday.

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