Denis Leslie Pagan (born 24 September 1947) is a former Australian rules football coach and player in the VFL/AFL. Pagan is a dual AFL premiership coach, and he also won the prestigious Victoria derby in 2020 as a trainer and owner of the horse “Johnny Get Angry.” This victory made him the first Australian sports figure to win an AFL premiership as a coach and train a group 1 horse race winner.
Playing career
North Melbourne
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. He represented Victoria in interstate matches in 1971.
After the Grand Final loss to Richmond in 1974, Pagan was pushed out of North Melbourne by senior coach Ron Barassi and Pagan's dwindling form and the club's reassessment of its squad in the aftermath of 1974 loss was the factor that caused Pagan's departure from North Melbourne Football Club.
South Melbourne
Pagan then moved back to his original roots (excepting Carlton, where Barassi expelled him in 1966) to South Melbourne for two seasons, 1975 until 1976, playing 23 games and kicking 0 goals. However, these events did not deter Pagan from his dedication to the North Melbourne football club, despite Barassi's authoritative coaching style.
Port Melbourne Football Club (VFA) In 1978, Pagan played for Port Melbourne in the Victorian Football Association.
Coaching career
Early coaching career
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. He piloted the team to the 1980 minor premiership and Grand Final, but the club lost the Grand Final against Brunswick. Pagan then returned to North Melbourne, and had great success as its Under-19s coach over the following decade. 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. After the AFL's Under-19s competition was disbanded at the end of 1991, Pagan was signed by the Essendon Football Club, where he led its reserves team to the Victorian State Football League premiership in 1992.
North Melbourne Football Club
Pagan returned again to North Melbourne in the 1993 season, and was appointed senior coach. He had an immediate impact at the Kangaroos, taking the side to the finals that year. Pagan led North Melbourne to a premiership in 1996. Pagan also led North Melbourne to the 1998 Grand Final but fell short and lost to Adelaide. Pagan then led North Melbourne to another premiership in 1999 and reached at least the preliminary final every year from 1994 to 2000.
He was known for pioneering a successful tactic which was termed "Pagan's Paddock", based around his key forward Wayne Carey. The coaching strategy involved moving all forwards out of the 50-metre arc and midfielders bombing the ball into empty space. The key forwards would run with the flight of the ball to take a mark or running goal.
By the end of his term at North Melbourne, he had established an impeccable reputation as a senior AFL coach and the longest serving coach in the club's history. His worst season at North Melbourne was in the 2001 season, when the club missed the finals for the only time during his 10-year term at the club.
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. Pagan then went to sign a lucrative deal with the Carlton Football Club. Pagan was then replaced by Dean Laidley as senior coach of North Melbourne.