Mick Malthouse came to collingwood when they were at their lowest point in history having one only their second wooden spoon.
Eddie took over as president and Mick took over as coach. Both worked extremely hard to turn the club around and in only 3 years took the club to it's first finals appearance in 8 seasons just falling short of Brisbane lions. Backed it up a year later and just missed out again.
Since malthouse and Eddie took over they became the powerhouse of the AFL.
It seems the first thing he did was change the culture issues plagueing the club. It's obvious that a coach can be a big player in this. After missing the ultimate success in 2001 & 2002 had a quick rebuild and haven't missed the finals since winning the ultimate prize in 2010.
Yes a tough coach and a president changed the club from a rabble ( which we all loved at the time ) to a consistant finals team with the winning culture we all see now.