ASSISTANT coach Marty Mattner is leaving Adelaide as the AFL club restructures coaching ranks amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Mattner, who had been at the Crows since late 2018, follows development coach Paul Thomas in departing the club.

LATEST NEWS All your COVID-19 updates here

Defensive development coach Brent Reilly is expected take the reins as Mattner's replacement and lead the backline.

"These are challenging times which have brought about unfortunate decisions," Adelaide's head of football Adam Kelly said in a statement on Wednesday.

Mattner played for the Crows and Sydney, where he later became an assistant coach.

He returned to South Australia and coached Sturt to two SANFL premierships before joining the Crows.

Crows defender Tom Doedee said he was informed of the news with a call from Mattner.

"It's obviously devastating," Doedee said.

"I didn't get to play with him too much, I obviously did my knee round one (2019) and missed the whole year but I saw the other side of him from coach's meetings.

"He's a ripping coach, a ripping fella and the backs love him and unfortunately it's just a product of the system and everything that's going on at the moment.

"It's a big loss for us and it'll be very different once we get back for sure."

CROWS' SHUTDOWN REPORT CARD Weapons, downfall, more

The AFL season has been suspended until at least May 31, with the Crows to finalise their coaching structures ahead of any resumption of competition.

Across town, Port Adelaide has also cut development coach and dual Crows best and fairest Scott Thompson.