The Chiefs confirmed early yesterday they have appointed former Hurricanes coach Colin Cooper as the new coach for the franchise for the 2018 season.
Cooper is a safe pair of hands who has coached at this level before.
He has been involved in coaching in professional rugby for nearly 20 years and coached the Hurricanes from 2003-10. The side did not win a title in that period although it made the 2006 final, losing to the Crusaders.
Since leaving the Hurricanes he has been coaching the Taranaki side in the national provincial championship.
Cooper (57) has signed a three-year deal and his coaching team he puts around him will be decided in the new year.
The Highlanders are also on the lookout for a new coach for 2018, but have been tight-lipped when asked if any progress has been made on a replacement for Brown.
Highlanders chief executive Roger Clark played had no comment yesterday when asked about the Highlanders coaching situation.
The coach for 2018 was a priority for him and the owners of the franchise but they had no comment to make.
Clark has always been reluctant to confirm any player or coaching signings until someone has signed on the dotted line, but it may be not too far away. But he would not comment on when a coaching announcement would be made nor whether the management had a deadline to meet.
Brown replaced Jamie Joseph and will coaching the Highlanders for one season before he heads to Japan to assist Joseph in coaching the Cherry Blossoms.
The big question is about who will take on the mantle of the Highlanders head coach and whether the owners and New Zealand Rugby want to stick with the tried and true or go for a new coach.
Colin Cooper may be an experienced coach but will hardly get the pulses racing in Waikato. He has been in and around professional rugby but is not a coach on the rise.
It may be coaching is going the same way as playing, in that performances at the next level down - the Mitre 10 Cup - no longer mean much at Super Rugby level.
Joseph went from coaching Wellington to coaching the Highlanders in 2011 but the requirements have moved substantially since then.
More is expected of coaches and it is just as much about handling players - and agents and player managers - as it is about getting out on the training field and coming up with game plans.
Coaching Super rugby sides is viewed as completely different from coaching provincial teams. The Crusaders, though, have bucked that trend by appointing Canterbury coach Scott Robertson, although he did coach the New Zealand under-20 team.
The two Highlanders assistant coaches, Mark Hammett and Scott McLeod, appear to be the two main candidates for the job and the Highlanders may wait until after next season before making an appointment.
But the emphasis these days is about having the future planned many years ahead.
Other candidates could be Tom Coventry, though his poor record as a head coach with London Irish counts against him, while former coaches Rob Penney and Dave Hewett appear unlikely.
One wildcard is former Springbok and Brumbies coach Jake White, who is leaving French rugby at the end of the year.
He is an astute coach but the dull and cautious playing style he favours would not win many fans in the South.