AFL club Hawthorn have finally appointed a coach for next season, with Port Adelaide assistant coach Alastair Clarkson to take over the reins at Glenferrie Oval.

Clarkson replaces Peter Schwab, who was axed midway through a season in which the Hawks avoided the wooden spoon on percentages.

He has been signed for two years and will begin working with the club immediately.

Clarkson has promised to develop a youth policy with plenty of discipline. He also said the club would rebound from the current problems it is facing at board level.

The Hawks' board is under seige from a rival group headed by former premiership captain Don Scott.

Scott wants the board replaced and has warned that if he takes over, any coaching appointment may be reversed.

"I can't say that at this stage. He could be the man, he could go on to be the best coach of Hawthorn, all I'm saying to you is when we are entrusted with running the football club, all areas are looked at," he said.

But Clarkson is not not concerned by the speculation.

"If you sit in the bottom half of the ladder on a consistent basis for anything more than two or three seasons, you're going to have internal turmoil and that's a fact of life in all footy clubs," he said.

"I'm certain with the vision that the club has got in place that the club's going to be in real good stead in the years to come."

The 36-year-old is the first coach at the club without Hawthorn links since Allan Jeans in 1981.

He was at Port for two seasons, where he was midfield coach in 2003 and forwards coach this year.

Port Adelaide chief executive Brian Cunningham says while the timing of Clarkson's departure is not ideal, it should not affect the team's preparations for the preliminary final.

"Look, he's an important part of our coaching team but we have known about the potential appointment to the senior role at Hawthorn for some time and our coaching team has assessed that," he said.

"They've looked at it and said we can cover that, so we're comfortable."

Clarkson has also coached in some capacity at VFL side Werribee, St Kilda and Central Districts in the SANFL.

He played 93 games for North Melbourne between 1987 and 1995, and 41 games for Melbourne from 1996-97.

He was selected after the Hawks missed out on preferred candidates Rodney Eade (Western Bulldogs) and Terry Wallace (Richmond).

Gary Ayres, Shaun Rehn, interim coach Donald McDonald, John Longmire and Daryn Cresswell were also among those interviewed for the position.