Melbourne has appointed Port Adelaide assistant coach Dean Bailey as its senior coach for the next three years.
The announcement was expected to be made next week, however the club issued a statement soon after Port Adelaide coach Mark Williams broke the news during his media conference on Friday.
Bailey was selected from a five-man short list which included Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy, former Fremantle coach Chris Connolly, Hawthorn assistant coach Damian Hardwick and Demons caretaker coach Mark Riley.
Bailey has spent six seasons at Port Adelaide as an assistant to Williams and was on-board during the club's 2004 AFL premiership campaign.
Before that, he was in a development role at Essendon where he also enjoyed premiership success in 2000 and for whom he played 53 matches between 1986 and 1992.
The Encyclopedia of League Footballers includes just one comment about Bailey the footballer - 'utility player from North Ringwood'.
Bailey, 40, was initially considered a rank outsider for the role at Melbourne and wasn't headhunted or invited to apply for the job but simply replied to an advertisement in the newspaper.
He is understood to have impressed the selection panel, however, with his analytical skills, attention to detail and presentation.
Bailey is the second of Williams' assistants to graduate to a senior AFL coaching role following Alastair Clarkson's appointment at Hawthorn in 2004.