Eade has been fulfilling the role on an interim basis in recent weeks and succeeds Geoff Walsh, who stood down in late July after seven years in the position.
Eade brings a distinguished career as a player, coach and strategist to the administration of the Collingwood football department.
He played in four premierships over a 229-game career with Hawthorn, cut his coaching teeth as a player/coach with the fledgling Brisbane Bears, led Sydney to the 1996 grand final, and finals football in five of seven seasons, and coached the Western Bulldogs to three preliminary finals in seven seasons.
For almost two years he has been by the side of Collingwood senior coach Nathan Buckley, as football and coaching strategist.
Collingwood chief executive, Gary Pert, said Eade’s broad range of football experience, intimate knowledge of the Collingwood program and enthusiasm for overseeing a first rate football department made him difficult to overlook.
“As everyone knows, ’Rocket’ has an outstanding football mind, which is an asset in itself,” Pert said.
“But he also has a deep understanding of how good football departments function, an excellent relationship with Nathan and his coaches and a regard for what is being built here, something that he wants to be a part of.
“Once he settled in his mind that he wanted to chart a new career in the game, he was very enthusiastic about playing a significant and different role in what is happening at the Westpac Centre and with all of his attributes I think the appointment of ‘Rocket’ to the position breaks new ground.”
Eade said that he considered other options, including a return to senior coaching, before reaching the conclusion that the opportunity to become the head of the Collingwood football department is something he is ready for.
“I suppose you ask yourself how you want to make a contribution,” Eade said.
“Helping to shape Collingwood’s football future - how the football operation might look in three, five or seven years – is tremendously exciting and in the end, the question was: ‘Do I want to be at Collingwood?’ And the answer was ‘Yes’.
“Coaching again was certainly something I seriously thought about. A part of me will always see the game through the eyes of a coach but the longer I thought about it, the idea of being able to offer assistance to ‘Bucks’ in that way but in so many other ways as well became appealing.
“There is a new generation of player pushing through, a state-of-the-art facility for them to work in, a strong coaching program and the prospect of success. As a combination, it was too hard to walk away from.”
