Wally Buono is the Lions' all-time leader in wins and is the only head coach to win two Grey Cups with the Lions.
The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, and are members of the West Division in the Canadian Football League (CFL). The franchise was founded as an expansion team of the Western Interprovincial Football Union (WIFU) in 1954.[1] In their 56-year history, the team has appeared in nine Grey Cup finals, and has won five championships.[2] The Lions current head coach is Buck Pierce and the current owner is Amar Doman.[3]
The Lions' first head coach was Canadian Football Hall of Famer Annis Stukus, who coached the team for two WIFU seasons. The Annis Stukus Trophy—awarded annually to the CFL's best head coach—is named after Stukus.[4] In 1958, the team joined the CFL as one of their charter members.[1] Clem Crowe coached the Lions for its last two seasons in the WIFU and was their first head coach in the CFL. After coaching the first three games of the 1958 season, Crowe was replaced by a group of seven people who coached the Lions for the next two games. Dan Edwards was named head coach for the remaining 11 games.[1] Dave Skrien was the first head coach to coach the Lions for more than three seasons. In his seven years coaching the team he led the Lions to two consecutive Grey Cup finals, including the team's first championship in 1964.[5]
Vic Rapp coached the Lions from 1977 until the end of the 1982 season.[6][7] He coached 96 regular season games with the Lions, which ranks second among Lions head coaches. Rapp won the Annis Stukus Trophy in the 1977 season, the only Lions head coach to do so without winning a Grey Cup championship.[8] Hall of Famer Don Matthews took over the coaching position in the 1983 season and coached the Lions until midway through the 1987 season.[7] He led the Lions to a Grey Cup championship and was named the Annis Stukus Trophy winner in the 1985 season.[2][8] Matthews' .706 regular season winning percentage is the best among Lions head coaches.
From 1988 until 2002, no Lions head coach term lasted as long as four complete seasons. During this time, the Lions won the Grey Cup championship twice: under head coach Dave Ritchie in 1994 and under Steve Buratto in 2000.[2] Adam Rita and Wally Buono are the only head coach to have had multiple tenures with the Lions. As of the end of the 2011 season, Wally Buono is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular-season games coached, regular-season games won, regular-season points, playoff games coached, and playoff games won. Buono coached the Lions to their fifth and sixth Grey Cup championships and was awarded the Annis Stukus Trophy in the 2006 and 2011 seasons.[2][8] He is the only Lions head coach to have won more than one Grey Cup. Excluding the group of seven, and counting Rita once, there have been 26 head coaches for the Lions franchise.
Adam Rita was the first head coach to have coached two stints with the Lions.Mike Benevides set a franchise record for most wins by a rookie head coach.Buck Pierce is the current head coach for the Lions.
Note: Statistics are current through the end of the 2024 CFL season.
1963 Annis Stukus Trophy winner 52nd Grey Cup championship
6
Ron Morris
1967
1
0
1
0
0
.000
—
—
—
—
7
Jim Champion
1967–1969
38
8
28
2
18
.237
—
—
—
—
8
Jackie Parker
1969–1970
22
10
12
0
20
.454
1
0
1
.000
9
Eagle Keys†
1971–1975
70
25
42
3
53
.379
2
0
2
.000
10
Cal Murphy†
1975–1976
26
10
14
2
22
.423
—
—
—
—
11
Vic Rapp
1977–1982
96
53
39
4
110
.573
5
2
3
.400
1977 Annis Stukus Trophy winner
12
Don Matthews†
1983–1987
80
56
23
1
113
.706
7
4
3
.571
1985 Annis Stukus Trophy winner 73rd Grey Cup championship
13
Larry Donovan
1987–1989
26
14
12
0
28
.538
4
2
2
.500
14
Joe Galat
1989
14
7
7
0
14
.500
—
—
—
—
15
Lary Kuharich
1990
10
2
7
1
5
.250
—
—
—
—
16
Jim Young
1990
1
0
1
0
0
.000
—
—
—
—
17
Bob O'Billovich†
1990–1992
43
18
25
0
36
.419
1
0
1
.000
18
Dave Ritchie
1993–1995
54
31
22
1
63
.583
5
3
2
.600
82nd Grey Cup championship
19
Joe Paopao
1996
18
5
13
0
10
.278
—
—
—
—
20
Adam Rita
1997–1998
27
11
16
0
22
.407
1
0
1
.000
21
Greg Mohns
1998–2000
34
22
12
0
44
.647
2
0
2
.000
22
Steve Buratto
2000–2002
35
14
21
1
29
.414
4
3
1
.750
88th Grey Cup championship
–
Adam Rita
2002
12
9
3
0
18
.750
1
0
1
.000
23
Wally Buono†
2003–2011
162
101
60
1
203
.627
14
7
7
.500
94th Grey Cup championship 2006 Annis Stukus Trophy winner 99th Grey Cup championship 2011 Annis Stukus Trophy winner
24
Mike Benevides
2012–2014
54
33
21
0
66
.611
3
0
3
.000
25
Jeff Tedford
2015
18
7
11
0
14
.389
1
0
1
.000
-
Wally Buono†
2016–2018
54
28
26
0
56
.519
3
1
2
.333
26
DeVone Claybrooks
2019
18
5
13
0
10
.278
—
—
—
—
27
Rick Campbell
2020–2024
68
38
30
0
58
.559
5
2
3
.400
Notes
[edit]
a A running total of the number of coaches of the Lions. Thus, any coach who has two or more separate terms as head coach is only counted once.
b Each year is linked to an article about that particular CFL season.
c The Lions were coached by a group of players led by Chuck Quilter, Byron Bailey, and Paul Cameron, assistant coaches Vic Lindskog and Walt Schlinkman, training camp coach Fred Owens, and general manager Herb Capozzi during a two-game period in the 1958 CFL season.