And if not for a certain speech he made to his players at halftime in the 1975 VFL grand final, and for his trademark gaberdine overcoat, they are the things for which he would be best remembered.

Kennedy, who passed away peacefully on Thursday aged 91, didn't mind that his legendary and bombastic "DOOOOO SOMETHING" speech gathered so much prominence.

He cared more that it didn't do any good.

"These things grow legs of their own," he said later.

"I actually made a few speeches that day, but we lost the grand final by 55 points, so they can't have been too special."

John Kennedy joined Hawthorn in 1950, he was voted best-and-fairest in his first three seasons, he went on to play 164 games, was captain from 1955 to 1959 and then coached the club for 14 seasons.

As distinguished as his playing career might appear, Kennedy regarded it as modest.

"You probably didn't have to be that flash to be best-and-fairest at Hawthorn in those days. We were regularly a long way down the ladder back then," he once told an interviewer.

Hawthorn had been admitted to the VFL in 1925, but didn't make the finals until 1957, with Kennedy as captain.

He retired as a player in 1959, taking up duties as the Hawks' coach the following year, bringing with him the toughness he'd shown on the field and a training regime that led to his teams becoming known as "Kennedy's Commandos".

The results were almost immediate with Kennedy coaching Hawthorn to their first premiership in his second season in charge.

His first coaching stint lasted until 1963 when the education department transferred him to Stawell in western Victoria where he was principal of the technical school and coach of the local football team.

Hawthorn recalled Kennedy three years later, at the same time it acquired future captain Don Scott and the inimitable Peter Hudson.

A year earlier the club had recruited the marvellous Peter Crimmins, a year later came Leigh Matthews and Peter Knights and then Kelvin Moore.

As Kennedy said: "We had players you'd dream of coaching."

Captained by David Parkin, Kennedy's team of stars finished on top of the ladder in 1971 and came from 20 points down at three-quarter time to beat St Kilda in the grand final.

Hawthorn next made the finals in 1974, finishing third, and then came the 1975 showdown against North Melbourne which produced the famous oration.

Kennedy, somewhat hesitantly, had been "miked up" for his halftime address to the players, which undoubtedly helped his exhortations achieve such prominence.

The fuller version, emphasis omitted, was: "At least do something. Do. Don't think. Don't hope. Do. At least you can come off saying 'I did this'."

Kennedy made another heartfelt speech to his team that day, one that was spoken with slightly more reverence, but still with his "tough love".

It had to do with Crimmins who was battling cancer and, although he declared himself fit to play, was left out of the team.

"If you're feeling tired just think of Crimmins," the coach told his players.

"He's home, he's not here. He brought his insides up this morning, he's vomiting, he's not here."

The following year Hawthorn again made the grand final, and again Crimmins was missing.

Kennedy read the players a telegram from their teammate before the game, urging them to "do it for the little fella".

They did, and they took the premiership cup to his home that night. Crimmins died three days later.

That 1976 grand final in which Hawthorn beat North Melbourne to win their third premiership - all of them with Kennedy as coach - was his last for the Hawks.

Kennedy went to North Melbourne in 1985, coaching the club to the finals twice in his five seasons.

He was later coaxed out of retirement to take up the role of AFL chairman in 1993, a post he held until 1998.

Less than a month before his death, Kennedy was officially inducted as the 29th legend of the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

Australian Associated Press