Chris Fagan (coach)


Christian Fagan is a former Australian rules footballer who is the senior coach of the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League. He spent his entire playing career in Tasmania, playing 263 senior games with Hobart, Sandy Bay, and Devonport. Before being appointed head coach of Brisbane in October 2016, Fagan had spent long periods as an assistant coach at Melbourne and Hawthorn.

Playing career

Fagan was born in Queenstown, Tasmania. He played 263 senior games in the Tasmanian Australian National Football League and Tasmanian Football League with Hobart, Sandy Bay and Devonport and kicked 430 goals in his career. He represented Tasmania on 11 occasions and played in two Premiership teams – Hobart in 1980 and Devonport in 1988.

Coaching career

Tasmania

Fagan spent two years as an assistant coach at North Hobart before being appointed senior coach of Sandy Bay for 1993 and 1994. He was the inaugural coach of the Tassie Mariners from 1995 to 1997. He was the 181st person to be inducted into the Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame in 2007.

AFL

Fagan was an assistant coach at the Melbourne Football Club between 1999 and 2007, during which the club reached the 2000 AFL Grand Final, where they lost to. He served two roles at the Hawthorn Football Club between 2008 and 2016, where he was instrumental in the club's 2008, 2013, 2014 and 2015 premiership victories. He was head of coaching and development between 2008 and mid-2013, while he was general manager of football alongside Alastair Clarkson between mid-2013 and the end of 2016.
On 4 October 2016 Fagan was appointed as the senior coach of the Brisbane Lions, replacing Justin Leppitsch. He is one of the few AFL coaches appointed in recent years without AFL playing experience. Fagan took the Lions to the finals in his third season as coach and was subsequently honoured by the AFL Coaches Association with the 2019 Allan Jeans Senior Coach of the Year Award.

Coaching statistics

! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal"|2017
! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal"|2018
! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal"|2019
! colspan=2| Career totals
! 68
! 26
! 42
! 0
! 38.8%
! colspan=2|