Matthew Nicks will remain Adelaide coach next season, with club hierarchy dousing speculation about his future for now even as he enters 2027 in an unprecedented position.

Nicks’ Crows exited the AFL finals with a 53-point away loss to Brisbane on Saturday night, the club’s second straight departure at the semi-final stage.

Channel 7’s Tom Morris reported the coach’s tenure hinged on winning a final, which Nicks did against the Western Bulldogs in their elimination match-up.

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And Adelaide chief executive Tim Silvers has guaranteed Nicks will serve out the final year of his contract next season.

“There has been considerable commentary and speculation about our senior coach’s future in recent times but our position has not changed,” Silvers wrote in a letter to Crows members issued on Sunday.

“We believe in Matthew Nicks, we trust the program he leads, and we remain aligned on our vision for the future.

“He will be our senior coach in 2027.”

Nicks has been at the Adelaide helm for seven years, with his winning ratio around 46 per cent.

But next year will be the first time during his stint that he coaches without being contracted for the following year.

Nicks and captain Jordan Dawson exit the Gabba after their loss to Brisbane. Credit: AAP

“There’s additional pressure for that if they don’t re-sign him for 2028,” Morris said on Fireball.

“And as far as I can see they won’t re-sign him for 2028 before the start of next season.”

Kane Cornes, who called Silvers’ statement a “strong” release, put in: “This has got Michael Voss vibes, for me, at Carlton.”

Morris said Adelaide are “a bit better placed” to hold firm compared to the Blues’ 1-8 start this year that led to Voss’s sacking.

“Well they’ve won a final this year,” he said.

“Carlton didn’t win a final last year.”

But Cornes said it was more about the “doubts” that surrounded Voss and will now linger over Nicks.

“(Carlton) weren’t really confident in Michael Voss. That’s the feeling I get about Adelaide. They’re not really certain Matthew Nicks is their guy,” he said.

“Clearly someone (at the Crows) is not comfortable, someone in a high position at Adelaide is not certain.

“They’ve given him one-year contract extensions for the last couple of years. Sam Mitchell’s getting three (years from Hawthorn).

“If you’re confident he’s your guy you’re not giving him one-year contract extensions every time he is set to come out of contract. It’s just not the way you behave.

“If he’s your guy you sign him for three years. You don’t have leaks inside the footy club. There’s too much going in Adelaide in and around Matthew Nicks to say that they are confident he’s their guy.

“And their form — 156 games, one finals win. You’ve got to factor that in as well. He’s not shot the lights out.”

Co-host David King assessed the expectations as being out of kilter with the Crows’ list, which he says is not a “shoot the lights out list”.

“It’s nowhere near Fremantle, it’s nowhere near Brisbane, and yet you want him to win a flag,” King said.

Cornes replied: “It’s better than winning one final in seven years ... I don’t know if it’s good enough to win a flag but it’s better than what they’ve delivered in September (over the last two years).”

Next season Nicks is set to become the club’s longest serving coach and overtake Neil Craig’s 157-game benchmark.

Silvers said the 51-year-old Nicks had overseen a “significant and ambitious rebuild” of the club’s playing list.

“Nicksy has built a strong and positive culture, overseen the development and progression of young talent, and created an environment in which our people are connected, driven and committed to improving,” he wrote.

Adelaide suffered a blow when trade target Zac Bailey re-signed with Brisbane — shortly before putting the Crows to the sword over the weekend — and they are expected to lose Jordon Butts to the Western Bulldogs.