The Eagles held off their final interviews with Simpson and the runner-up for the position, Peter Sumich, because of their respective commitments to Hawthorn and Fremantle in the lead-up to the Grand Final.
"The protocol we initiated was respected by both the coaches and the club," said AFL Coaches Association chief executive Danny Frawley.
West Coast was able to meet informally with Simpson and Sumich once John Worsfold finished up as coach, but formal interviews and contract negotiations were forbidden until after they had completed their commitments to their existing clubs.
In the past, Collingwood had lost the services of Brad Scott and Mark Neeld during the finals because they accepted senior coaching roles at other clubs and commenced work immediately.
"Clubs need to work fast to get their men, but they also need to respect that Grand Final week is the biggest of the year and the competing clubs don’t need to have these sorts of distractions," Frawley said.
"It is fantastic that Adam Simpson has been appointed to West Coast and it is pleasing that the Eagles understood the needs of Hawthorn and Fremantle during the selection process."
Recent changes to the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which pushes back the start of pre-season training to early November, have also reduced the need for clubs to have their new coaches in place so early.
"There are plenty of good prospective coaches out there, and respecting the protocol in place still enables the clubs to get them," Frawley said.
Meanwhile, Frawley continues to monitor the Stuart Dew situation amid speculation he could be appointed as the coach-in-waiting at Melbourne.
There has been a crackdown on assistant coaches breaking contracts to accept similar roles with rival clubs, but the situation with Dew appears to be different.
Currently, he is an assistant coach with the Swans, but the club has blocked his proposed move to the Demons to work under Paul Roos because he has a year remaining on his contract.
According to Frawley, that could change if it could be demonstrated that his position at Melbourne would be a clear promotion on his role with the Swans.
He said there was a precedent for this 12 months ago, with Leon Cameron following his move from Hawthorn to Greater Western Sydney where he was named as Kevin Sheedy's successor as senior coach.
"Leon Cameron had a year remaining on his contract, but because he was moving to an elevated role with the Giants, the Hawks released him from his contract and he was able to make the switch," Frawley said.
"If Stuart is offered a role with Melbourne that is a clear promotion, then we would encourage him to have the same sort of conversation with the Swans.
"But the contract is between Stuart and the Swans, so they would need to sort it out. Our role is only to offer advice if asked."
Frawley also welcomed the return of Peter Schwab to the AFL coaching scene after three years as the AFL's director of coaching.
Schwab has joined the Lions as the head of coaching and development and as a mentor to new senior coach Justin Leppitsch.
"It's a fantastic opportunity for 'Schwabby'.
"He's a good man who has coached at the highest level and he blooded some youngsters at Hawthorn including Sam Mitchell and Luke Hodge, so for him to head to Brisbane with his family is a great fillip for the Lions," he said.
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