The Highlanders have appointed Clarke Dermody as their new head coach for the next three Super Rugby seasons.
The three-test All Blacks prop was an assistant coach under Tony Brown, who finished his two-year tenure at the end of the Super Rugby Pacific season to join Jamie Joseph's coaching staff with the Japan national side.
The 42-year-old will be charged with trying to lead the southerners back to their 2015 titlewinning form, after a disappointing Super Rugby Pacific campaign saw them win just four of 14 games, before being comprehensively beaten by the Blues in the quarter-finals.
Making his debut in 2004, the Southlander played 44 games for the Highlanders, before departing for London Irish in 2007.
In 2012, injury brought a premature end to his playing career, forcing him into coaching with his beloved Stags, then combining with Andrew Goodman to lead Tasman Mako to national provincial titles in 2020 and 2021.
Last year, he deputised for Brown - away on Japan duty - to lead the Highlanders to the Super Rugby Trans Tasman final, where they lost to the Blues at Eden Park.
"When I started with the Highlanders in 2014, it wasn't with the purpose of someday being the head coach," said Dermody. "I was just happy to get the opportunity to be involved with a club I have a genuine attachment with.
"Over the last 10 years or so, that attachment has only strengthened through the good times and bad.
"I believe in the club and the region it represents, I believe in the team and the players we have, and I believe that we can achieve success, if we work hard and work smart.
"To get the opportunity to lead the team and coaching group is an honour, and I am certainly looking forward to the hard work involved in putting together our 2023 season."
Highlanders chief executive Roger Clark is confident they have the right man for the job.
"Clarke has served his apprenticeship with this club in every sense, firstly as a player and then as a coach," said Clark. "He understands this club and the region we represent well.
"He has shown he can get the best out of the people around him and we have faith in that ability to lead our club over the next few years.
"The appointment of Clarke is the first step - we are confident of assembling a coaching group that will drive consistent improvement in our team. We feel we have a playing group that has the potential to improve and we just need to bring it to the fore week-to-week."