"He's tough," Gifford said.
That toughness initially manifested itself as a no-nonsense approach - "my way or the highway" - which led to fallouts with players who were not performing, or in some cases not conforming with the way he thought the game should be played.
With the Crusaders, he cut prolific All Blacks flyhalf Andrew Mehrtens, while in Australia Matt Giteau was just one to feel the whisper of the executioner's axe as Deans rejuvenated the side.
Deans' unwillingness to discuss his relationships with players can lead to rumours of rifts spreading unchecked.
Flanker George Smith said recently that, despite widespread rumours to the contrary, he had never fallen out with Deans and found him supportive when he retired from test rugby in 2010.
Deans' most famous recent falling out has been with enigmatic Queensland Reds flyhalf Quade Cooper, who last year slammed his tactics and described the atmosphere in the Wallabies camp as "toxic".
Publicly at least, the reason Deans left him out of his initial 25-man squad to face the Lions was because of what he sees as defensive frailties, but many read a subtext that Cooper's instinctive style does not fit Deans' plans for the Wallabies.
Those interpretations had Deans indignantly dismissing as nonsense the idea he had never supported Cooper, pointing out at his Lions squad announcement that he had picked the flyhalf for 38 tests.
Indeed, when Deans served as an assistant to John Mitchell with the All Blacks, he favoured Cooper's childhood hero Carlos Spencer, another mercurial flyhalf, over the more measured Mehrtens for the 2003 World Cup.
Gifford believes that failed campaign counted heavily against Deans when he applied for the All Blacks coaching job in 2007. Public criticism from several senior players did not help and, Gifford says, neither did what some members of the board saw as dysfunctional dealings with media, fans, sponsors and the New Zealand Rugby Union under the Mitchell-Deans regime.
His failed bid to become New Zealand coach in 2007 echoed his playing days when, despite being a prolific points-scoring fullback for Canterbury, he was unable to cement a place in the All Blacks.
He scored 18 points in Canterbury's 22-20 victory over the 1983 Lions, but only played five tests for the All Blacks, blocked by Alan Hewson then Kieran Crowley.
Deans last played provincial rugby in 1990 then turned to coaching the Canterbury side in 1997 before taking over as Crusaders coach in 2000.
After winning his fifth and final Super Rugby title in 2008, his players chanted his name.
That was a transformation from the sort of frosty relationship he had with them years earlier when he was subjecting them to a three-day boot camp in the snow covered Southern Alps.
While Gifford also sees it as proof that Deans has matured as a coach over the past two decades, it might not be enough to save his job in Australia.
Deans has been told he will need to reapply for his job at the end of the year and a series victory against the Lions could go a long way to ensuring he remains until the 2015 World Cup.
His international record as he heads into the Lions series is far from flattering. Since he took over the Wallabies, Australia have played 71 tests, winning 42, losing 27 and drawing two.
They have lost to trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand 14 times, which included a 10-match losing streak. They failed to regain the Bledisloe Cup or win the World Cup in 2011, key objectives when he took the job.
Deans is desperate to stay and see his young Wallabies side reach full maturity, but would be unlikely to go out whining.
That would contradict his philosophy that the "group" is most important, the performance on the field is what counts and no-one is irreplaceable. Himself included.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: A win-or-bust series for Deans
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