If 2016 introduced Brendon Bolton, the new leader of the Carlton Football Club, then 2017 looms as the year of Brendon Bolton, the coach.
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In a season that saw the "Baby Blues" unexpectedly win seven games and impress much of the football fraternity, Bolton was also trying to change the face of an entire club.
Now, after a year of drastic transformation  on and off the field, Bolton can concentrate on coaching a football team.
![Carlton coach Brendon Bolton addresses his players during a training session.](/web/20170213125801im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/b/y/5/w/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gubu87.png/1486978760587.jpg)
When the Tasmanian walked into Carlton as senior coach at the end of 2015, he found not only an underperforming team but a club that was struggling culturally.
Players weren't held to account  on the leadership front, families weren't made to feel part of the "journey" and staff were blocked out from the football department.
On all Bolton's crucial benchmarks for success, significant change was required.Â
Fast forward a little over a year and Carlton the football club has been reborn.
With the help of recruiting boss Stephen Silvagni and head of football Andrew McKay, the Blues have turned over 28 players in two off-seasons.
What has been as noticeable - but less well publicised  -is the exponential improvement of the club culturally, away from football field.
The first element is leadership, something that Bolton preaches as a vital ingredient for success within any team.
With the help of sports psychologist Anthony Klarica, who Bolton brought over from Hawthorn, the Blues have been able to drastically improve leadership among the playing group.
Several uncomfortable conversations were had with players when Bolton first arrived, which largely pertained to measurable values and standards that had to be adhered to.
Re-elected captain Marc Murphy, who will make his return from injury in the Blues' first pre-season match against Melbourne at the  weekend, has become an even better skipper, according to the club.
Bryce Gibbs, who only three months ago requested a trade back to South Australia, has driven standards among his teammates throughout a very impressive pre-season.
Then there's the non-football staff; a group who up until last year had been largely segregated from the team.
Under Bolton's reign, there is a rotating roster at Ikon Park for staff members to attend pre-training meetings with the players and coaches and then walk out onto the field and have a role during the sessions.
Some of them were even able to handpass balls to players during drills.
Bolton's philosophy is: if they're part of the club, why shouldn't they feel part of the team?
Happiness and diversity among his staff is crucial for Bolton.
The so-called "boys club" that existed at Carlton has largely been eradicated.
The club now has a tick under 50 per cent female staff members, to go with a multitude of programs supporting women, including those affected by domestic violence.
The arrogance and swagger that for so long attached itself to Carlton like a bad smell has well and truly been deodorised.
The only consequence is the toll that has taken.
With the coach taking a lead role in so many of the changes, it was only natural that Bolton would be exhausted at the end of last season.
Now, after a holiday and mental break, the second-year coach has returned as energised as ever, ready to take Carlton to the next level.
With a modern gameplan and new way of thinking instilled in his players last year, this year will provide opportunity for even deeper analysis of the way he wants them to play.
The role of Neil Craig shouldn't go unnoticed in Bolton's progression thus far.
The former Adelaide coach, employed as a confidant for Bolton, has been an effective sounding board for his younger co-worker, in a relationship that has blossomed.
Contrary to popular belief, Bolton recognised as early as the final stages of his interview process that a senior figure above him would be an asset in his development as a coach.
He was particularly cognisant of the role Chris Fagan played for Alastair Clarkson at Hawthorn and the raging success that relationship had at Waverley.
Bolton decided early in his senior coaching career that the only viable way to conduct himself in the media was to act naturally, and not try to be someone else.
After a year of radical change, the Carlton Football Club is almost unrecognisable to the club that Mick Malthouse acrimoniously departed.
Now, we get to find out more about Bolton. Â
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