From the introduction of new player movements, to the media scrutiny to what's required to be a "successful coach", premiership coach Paul Roos declared that the modern era is the hardest period to be an AFL coach.
Following the shock resignation of Richmond coach Damien Hardwick, the talk of the town has been about the coaching landscape.
Is there too much pressure?
Do coaches have all the necessary means at their disposal to achieve greatness?
What works? What doesn't? What do players respond to best?
Are succession plans pivotal? Or is a clean break what's required?
The answers to these differ between the 18 clubs, which is the beauty in finding coaches like Roos, Hardwick, Alastair Clarkson, Chris Scott and even more recently, Craig McRae.
From Roos' perspective, the Fitzroy champion believes that to be a good modern-day coach isn't all about the magnet board and where the stars play, but creating a space for people to thrive.
"To be a good coach, you have to be a good manager and have really good self awareness. It's a really big part of it now," Roos said on RSN.
"When you're a young coach, you're focusing on the X's and O's but when it got toward the end, I realised getting good assistants around you is pivotal.
"If you can't manage now and don't have self awareness, you're not going to be a successful coach."
From the outside looking in, Hardwick was the poster boy of reflection and awareness, which played a key part in securing three flags and a place among the game's greats.
More recently, Pies coach McRae has been lauded for his first 18 months at the helm, with his openness, honesty and mindfulness flagged as the prototype for the modern-day coach.
Collingwood sit a game clear on top of the ladder and have lost nine games (including two finals) since the beginning of 2022.
But unlike Roos, who was part of two succession plans, Hardwick and McRae had little guidance from the previous coach at the club.
Richmond and Collingwood started anew, taking a punt on fresh faces and wiping the slate clean.
So what works?
The seven-time All-Australian said that what worked for Sydney and Melbourne during his time is different to any other club, but the passing of the baton was executed "extremely well".
"I think there is a lot of positives around it (success plans), if it is done the right way," Roos said.
"From a senior coaching point of view, it gives you a little bit of breath of life and a chance to up-skill another coach. It's a bit of excitement for the players knowing there's a new coach coming but the old coach is still there.
"I went through the succession plan with John Longmire while I had another year and then went to Melbourne (Simon Goodwin).
"The club then put John Longmire in (with a year to go on my contract) and it worked for both of us extremely well. And it worked really well for Melbourne as well."
Both Longmire and Goodwin are premiership coaches and have been successful throughout majority of their tenure.
The Swans won a flag in 2012 and missed out in 2014 and 2016, while the Demons broke their 57-year drought in 2021 and have been a powerhouse since.
Although, Roos admitted that the modern game is a lot harder to navigate through as a coach to when he started back in 2002.
"There's no question now that it is way more difficult to coach now then it was when I started in 2002," Roos said.
"Suddenly you've got pressure on teams that are rebuilding that you never really had before.
"The free agency's created difficulties for bottom teams, now you've got Tassie coming in... the complexity of the game has never been greater. You mentioned COVID. You mentioned soft cap.
"The players aren't there (clubs) as often now so it becomes really difficult to improve for the bottom teams.
"They don't get access to the players enough, which is something the fans don't really understand.
"So if you're a fan of a bottom club, often the lack of development is because the players aren't at the club often enough to improve at the rate that the fans demand."
