Don Pyke

Don Pyke
Pyke in April 2017
Personal information
Full name Donald Lachlan Pyke
Date of birth (1968-12-05) 5 December 1968 (age 55)
Place of birth Bloomington, Illinois, U.S.
Original team(s) Belconnen
Draft No. 2, 1988 pre-draft selection
Height 180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight 78 kg (172 lb)
Position(s) Midfielder
Playing career
Years Club Games (Goals)
1987–1996 Claremont 063 (90)
1989–1996 West Coast 132 (70)
Total 195 (160)
Coaching career3
Years Club Games (W–L–D)
1999–2000 Claremont (WAFL) 39 (23–16–0)
2016–2019 Adelaide (AFL) 93 (56–36–1)
3 Coaching statistics correct as of round 23, 2019.
Career highlights

Club

Coaching

Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Donald Lachlan Pyke (born 5 December 1968) is a former Australian rules footballer who is the CEO of the West Coast Eagles having previously been an assistant coach at the Sydney Swans.[1] He was formerly the senior coach of the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).[2] He played for the West Coast Eagles from 1989 to 1996.

Pyke was the first United States born (but not US Citizen) player in the Australian Football League and has played the most games of an American born player in the history of the league with 132 games and is 2nd on Goals with 97 goals to Mason Cox (120 Goals and Counting). Pyke was recruited by the Claremont Football Club for the 1987 WAFL season, playing in a premiership in his first season and winning the club's best and fairest award in his second season. This led to his recruitment by West Coast, who selected him prior to the 1988 National Draft. Pyke spent eight seasons at the club, playing in premiership sides in both 1992 and 1994, and sharing the Club Champion Award with Glen Jakovich in 1993.

After retiring from playing, Pyke was the senior coach of Claremont from 1999 to 2000. He became served as an assistant coach at Adelaide in 2005 and 2006, and later rejoined West Coast as a strategy coach at the end of the 2013 AFL season, under Adam Simpson. He was appointed senior coach of Adelaide in October 2015, replacing Phil Walsh. He coached the team to the 2017 AFL Grand Final, in which they were defeated by Richmond.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference swans was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Pyke named new Crows coach". afc.com.au. Adelaide Crows. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2015.