Denis Pagan played 120 games for the North Melbourne Football Club between 1967 and 1974, kicking 5 goals, mainly due to his permanent spot as a hard-nosed defender in the back pocket.
25 Facts About Denis Pagan
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Denis Pagan then moved to South Melbourne for two seasons from 1975 until 1976, playing 23 games and kicking 0 goals.
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In 1978, Denis Pagan played for Port Melbourne in the Victorian Football Association.
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Denis Pagan's coaching career began when he took the role of captain-coach of the Yarraville Football Club in the VFA second division in 1979.
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Denis Pagan piloted the team to the 1980 minor premiership and Grand Final, but the club lost the Grand Final against Brunswick.
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Denis Pagan then returned to North Melbourne, and had great success as its Under-19s coach over the following decade.
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Denis Pagan led the team to nine consecutive Under-19s Grand Finals from 1983 to 1991, resulting in five premierships: in 1984,1987,1988,1990 and 1991.
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Denis Pagan returned again to North Melbourne in the 1993 season, and was appointed senior coach.
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Denis Pagan had an immediate impact at the Kangaroos, taking the side to the finals that year.
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Denis Pagan led North Melbourne to the 1998 AFL Grand Final but fell short and lost to Adelaide.
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Denis Pagan then led North Melbourne to another premiership in 1999 and reached at least the preliminary final every year from 1994 to 2000.
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Denis Pagan was known for pioneering a successful tactic which was termed "Pagan's Paddock", based around his key forward Wayne Carey.
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Denis Pagan quit as senior coach of North Melbourne Football Club at the end of the 2002 season, despite the team finishing 7th, which was a better result than expected after Wayne Carey left the club at the beginning of the year after his much-publicised affair.
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Denis Pagan then went to sign a lucrative deal with the Carlton Football Club.
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Denis Pagan was then replaced by Dean Laidley as senior coach of North Melbourne.
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However, this proved to be a false dawn, when Carlton under Denis Pagan ended up receiving two consecutive wooden spoons in the 2005 season with four wins, one draw and seventeen losses, and in the 2006 season with three wins, one draw and eighteen losses.
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Carlton under Denis Pagan did not improve much in the 2007 season, sitting at fourteenth on the ladder after Round 16,2007 with four wins and twelve losses.
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Denis Pagan was not bitter at the club's decision, and wanted to go on record that he would never have quit as the coach of the Carlton Football Club.
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Denis Pagan was replaced by assistant coach Brett Ratten as caretaker senior coach for the remainder of the 2007 season, who was eventually appointed full-time senior coach of Carlton.
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Denis Pagan had a year to go on his contract which was paid out in full by the club.
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Years later in 2014, Denis Pagan later stated in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper that coaching Carlton was "a very difficult assignment", taking into consideration the fact that the club had lost valuable draft picks in the wake of the salary cap breaches.
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In 2008, Denis Pagan became a board member at North Melbourne Football Club.
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Denis Pagan has been described as a "meticulous planner, an inspirational leader of men and for the relentless pursuit of excellence".
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Denis Pagan's coaching philosophies have been described as being based upon "communication, teaching, people management and leadership".
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In 2018, Denis Pagan was inducted as coaching legend in the AFL Coaches Association awards in recognition of the significant achievement and excellence over his time of a former AFL coach.