Former Carlton coach Denis Pagan was elevated to legend status in the AFL Coaches Association last night.

Pagan, who spent five years as coach of the Blues between 2003 and 2007, was officially inducted as a coaching legend after 15 years in the AFL.

Arriving at the Blues at a difficult time, Pagan blooded a number of young players who would go onto have significant influence at the Club. He would ultimately coach Carlton for 104 games.

The likes of Kade Simpson (2003), Andrew Walker (2004), Marc Murphy (2006) and Bryce Gibbs (2007) got their start under Pagan. All four would go onto play at least 200 games for Carlton.

He also coached the Blues for their final AFL game at Princes Park in 2005.

Prior to arriving at Carlton, Pagan spent a decade at North Melbourne as coach, where he led the side to two premierships.

He's the fourth of 11 AFLCA coaching legends who spent time at Carlton. Ron Barrassi (2010), David Parkin (2012) and Mick Malthouse (2016) are the other recipients.