The armchair expert who tunes in on match day and sees Longmire blowing up in the coaches' box might disagree. How can he be someone who so many people speak highly of; who seemingly needs to win so much he cannot control his emotions?

Like any elite player or coach, Longmire is a competitive beast who hates losing.

But, as he has shown many times during his six seasons at the helm, he will put the welfare of his players first over immediate success.

Think Lance Franklin 12 months ago and his advocacy for mental health; Adam Goodes at the height of the booing controversy last year; or his heartfelt support for Jarrad McVeigh as he dealt with the loss of his baby girl.

"It's people first, football second," Swans chairman Andrew Pridham said. "If a player has issues and will be better served not playing, John will always take that view.

"He has deep empathy for people, not just sympathy. He cares about people, he's very interested."

Ask Mitch Morton how much Longmire notices. The coach once called Morton into his office after a team meeting and asked the former Swan to read the whiteboard.

"I squinted and he said 'do it without squinting', and I couldn't do it," Morton recalls.

Longmire ordered him to see his assistant who would put him in touch with an optometrist. "Haven't you seen someone squint before?" Morton protested. "Not one that sits in the front row, I haven't," was the reply.

"It blew me away that he noticed. It was in the middle of a team meeting and he was thinking of my eyesight," Morton says.

Longmire also knew how "highly strung" Morton was, which is why in grand final week of 2012 the coach broke one of his golden rules and told the player he was in the team before the match-committee meeting.

Morton had slept for a combined total of five hours from Friday to Monday worrying whether he would stay in the side. "I was a mess on the weekend, I can't imagine what the week would have been like," Morton said.

"If I was out then I would have dealt with it."

Not that Morton had much to worry about. Which brings us to Longmire's honesty. "Everyone knows where he stands," O'Loughlin said.

Put at ease: Mitch Morton snaps a goal in the 2012 grand final. Photo: Pat Scala

Take Barry Hall. As his relationship with Paul Roos deteriorated in 2009, Longmire became the middleman between the pair.

"I had a couple of robust discussions with him and he told me how it is – that's all you want as a player," Hall said.

Longmire's sincerity was one of the reasons the Swans, at the recommendation of former administrator Ron Joseph, headhunted him in 2001 when they were searching for assistants who could one day take the top job.

Longmire, who retired two years earlier, had been an influential figure in the AFL Players' Association, where he played a key role in the rise of former AFL chief Andrew Demetriou, and dabbled in player management.

"We knew what a terrific human being he was, his core set of values were very, very solid," then Swans football manager Colin Seery said. "He'd been quite diverse in his roles. He was in business – we thought he was a rounded individual.

"The players can work out very quickly who are real and John seemed to have all the pieces in place in terms of the ability to communicate at a different level as well as his background in football."

Glory days: Swans coach Paul Roos and captain Barry Hall hold the trophy aloft after the 2005 grand final against the West Coast Eagles at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Photo: Mark Dadswell

Longmire may not be the most dynamic media performer but he understands the need to grow his club and code. Which takes us to integrity. Pridham points to the club's $1 million a year investment in the Swans Academy. That money could be poured into the football department but is helping the club long-term by getting more fans involved.

"He's not a selfish person who thinks what's good for the team this week, but what's good for the club in 10 years' time," Pridham said.

Demetriou takes it a step further. He remembers how Longmire brought the AFL Commission into the inner sanctum with an impressive presentation explaining the tactics and strategies behind winning the 2012 flag.

"He put the good of the game and where he wanted the game to go above and beyond any personal gain," Demetriou said.

These are heady times for the Swans, who have made five of the past 12 grand finals. For Longmire, who served a nine-year apprenticeship, it will be his third in six seasons.

"It's never a rush, you take your time and that's what he's like," Pridham said. "He's a big part of the reason for the overall culture of the club. He's not following our culture, he's leading it."