A foundation member of the Hawthorn Hall of Fame, Parkin was elevated to legend status by the club at its season launch on Thursday night.
Parkin played 211 games for the Hawks between 1961 and 1974, but what makes him unique at Hawthorn is that he is the only identity to have captained and coached the club to premierships.
Parkin was skipper in 1971 when the Hawks came back from 20 points down at three-quarter time to beat St Kilda to win the club's second premiership.
In 1978, his second year as coach after succeeding John Kennedy snr, he steered the Hawks to their fourth premiership when they beat North Melbourne by 18 points.
A leading physical education lecturer during the day, Parkin's coaching was marked by innovation; he was the first coach to compile exhaustive dossiers on his own team and the opposition and he even installed a video system at Princes Park for home games that allowed the coaches and players to analyse passages of play during the half-time break.
He irrevocably altered the football lexicon, introducing 'talls', 'shorts' and 'mids' to the language of football.
He played most of his football as a courageous and tenacious back pocket, but had the skill and fitness to play as a burst midfielder. He won Hawthorn's best and fairest in 1965 and represented Victoria five times.
He later coached Carlton to the 1981, 1982 and 1995 premierships and also coached Fitzroy.
Kennedy, Leigh Matthews, Graham Arthur, Michael Tuck and Peter Hudson are the other Hawthorn identities to have received the honour.
Former player Roy Simmonds, former coach Jack Hale and former physiotherapist Harry E. Miller were posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame at the event.
