Freshly minted Brisbane Lions premiership coach Chris Fagan insists he hasn't had too many lows throughout his time in the AFL system.
But the 63-year-old has certainly been tested under the intense spotlight on Hawthorn's historic racism scandal over the past two years.
There has been no closure, with details of the allegations against Fagan, Alastair Clarkson and former Hawks welfare manager Jason Burt broadcast in the Federal Court just last month.
It came after a drawn-out AFL investigation found no adverse findings against the three men, who have consistently denied wrongdoing.
As the scandal has played out publicly, Fagan has steered Brisbane to successive grand finals and, finally, a premiership - sealed with a 60-point thrashing of Sydney in Saturday's grand final.
Clarkson, now coach of North Melbourne, was among the supporters in the Lions' change room to congratulate Fagan after the final siren.
"I've had a terrific football club that have got around me and they know the person that I am," Fagan said.
"They've never had any doubt in me and neither have the players. I've had a great family as well, and a good batch of friends.
"I felt fairly comfortable all the way through, to be honest.
"I don't think I'm anything special, but it was a pretty tough time, I guess, especially when it all first came out and things are being said about you.
"I'm just very grateful for everyone who's got in my corner and looked after me."
Fagan became the AFL's oldest premiership coach with the Lions' 18.12 (120) to 9.6 (60) win over Sydney.
He is also the first to steer a club to a flag without having played a senior game himself.
The ultimate success came eight years after Fagan took over a club that had won just three matches the previous season.
With some prodding, Fagan grinned when he agreed the premiership was the best moment of his career so far.
"When you're the coach of an AFL team, you've got to put up with a lot of scrutiny and a lot of pressure," Fagan said.
"To come from where we've come from eight years ago and be able to do this today is a very special moment."
The previous two AFL premiers - Geelong and Collingwood - both missed the finals the year after their success and Fagan is eager to avoid a similar fall.
"You've got to get back to work and stay grounded and not get too carried away," Fagan said.
"That's always the big challenge after you win one because it's pretty intoxicating, winning an AFL premiership.
"But I think I can use some of the things I learnt at Hawthorn from 'Clarko' and 'Hodgey' (Luke Hodge) as well to get the group going again.
"I think they'll be pretty motivated to have that feeling again."
Before that, there will be time to celebrate.
"We'll enjoy what we've done this season for a little while," Fagan said.
"But we will get back to work and hopefully next year we can turn up an even better version of ourselves from the experiences that we've had."
