On Tuesday, Craig signed off on a two-year contract extension that will see him remain at the helm at West Lakes until the end of 2011.
Craig, who last week coached his 100th AFL game, has taken Adelaide to the finals in each of his three years in the job and is only one win away from securing a fourth-consecutive finals berth.
Craig, who still had one year to run on his contract prior to the extension, said the new deal was "not something that needed to be done" from his perspective, but the club was keen to secure the former SANFL star's services sooner rather than later.
Adelaide chairman Bill Sanders and Trigg said Craig had met the initial demands set by the club, which were to develop the list and instil a competitive style of play, and were convinced that Craig was the man to take the Crows forward.
"When Neil took over, I think most critics thought we were shot," Trigg said.
"[According to the critics] we were going to spend a lot of time rebuilding and when Mark Ricciuto etc retired, I think the external view was that we were shot.
"Besides Neil's 62 per cent win-loss record, there have been a couple of preliminary finals and probably a finals series in every year of his first four years of coaching, so it's an extraordinary performance by anyone's measure."
Following Ayres' departure in 2004, the Crows embarked on an extensive, national search for a new senior coach, but Craig, the club's former fitness coach, was right under their nose.
Craig, a virtual unknown outside SA, took over as interim coach in late 2004 and steered Adelaide to a minor-round premiership the following year. The Crows went on to finish fourth that year after being bundled out in the preliminary final by powerhouse West Coast.
Trigg recalled one of his first official functions with Craig as coach.
"I went to a function with Craigy late in 2004 – it might have been the Brownlow – and we had a quiet fizzy drink afterwards. Neil was moved to say, 'Do you reckon anybody in this room knows me?' Trigg said.
"I said, 'No, but they will in 10 years' time'.
"Over the last few years I think there has been some respect from other clubs in the sense that they know where we've been with our list and our need to develop it and that he's done a fantastic job.
"Where they would've said 'Neil who?' when he first started, I think there's still a bit of uncertainty about where we're at and what this bloke is about, and – do you know what? – I don't mind.
"He has all the building blocks to be a long-term coach, whether that be seven or 10 years, and this year or next, he'll be the longest serving coach of our club and it's just happened in a blink of an eye really.
"We'll then get him a senior citizens card and away he goes."
