List of BC Lions head coaches

File:Wally Buono (March 2009).jpg

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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.bclions.com/page/history_yby50 |title=History >> Year by Year >> 1950–59 |publisher=BC Lions |access-date=October 11, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090721140221/http://www.bclions.com/page/history_yby50 |archive-date=July 21, 2009 }} In their 56-year history, the team has appeared in nine Grey Cup finals, and has won five championships. The Lions current head coach is Buck Pierce and the current owner is Amar Doman.{{Cite web|url=http://www.bclions.com/page/lions_staff |title=Lions Staff |publisher=BC Lions |access-date=October 11, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100104042750/http://bclions.com/page/lions_staff |archive-date=January 4, 2010 }}

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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.cfhof.ca/members/annis-stukus/|title=Annis Stukus|publisher=Canadian Football Hall of Fame|access-date=April 26, 2018|archive-date=April 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180426213238/http://www.cfhof.ca/members/annis-stukus/|url-status=live}} In 1958, the team joined the CFL as one of their charter members. 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. 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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.bclions.com/page/history_yby60 |title=History >> Year by Year >> 1960–69 |publisher=BC Lions |access-date=August 11, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100104055245/http://bclions.com/page/history_yby60 |archive-date=January 4, 2010 }}

Vic Rapp coached the Lions from 1977 until the end of the 1982 season.{{Cite web|url=http://www.bclions.com/page/history_yby70 |title=History >> Year by Year >> 1970–79 |publisher=BC Lions |access-date=August 11, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100130214628/http://www.bclions.com/page/history_yby70 |archive-date=January 30, 2010 }}{{Cite web|url=http://www.bclions.com/page/history_yby80 |title=History >> Year by Year >> 1980–89 |publisher=BC Lions |access-date=August 11, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304155425/http://www.bclions.com/page/history_yby80 |archive-date=March 4, 2012 }} 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. Hall of Famer Don Matthews took over the coaching position in the 1983 season and coached the Lions until midway through the 1987 season. He led the Lions to a Grey Cup championship and was named the Annis Stukus Trophy winner in the 1985 season. 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. 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.{{Cite web|url=http://greycup.cfl.ca/grey-cup-recaps |title=Grey Cup Recap |publisher=Canadian Football League |access-date=August 24, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120607060727/http://greycup.cfl.ca/grey-cup-recaps |archive-date=June 7, 2012 }} 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.

Key

class="wikitable"

|+General

|Number of coaches{{ref label|Note1|a|a}}

style="background-color:#FFE6BD"|†

| Elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in the builders category{{Cite web|url=http://www.bclions.com/uploads/assets/BC/pdfs/History/CFL_Hall_of_Fame.pdf |title=BC Lions Canadian Football Hall of Fame Inductees |publisher=BC Lions |access-date=October 11, 2009 |format=PDF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090711052332/http://www.bclions.com/uploads/assets/BC/pdfs/History/CFL_Hall_of_Fame.pdf |archive-date=July 11, 2009 }}

Achievements

|Achievements during their Lions head coaching tenure

class="wikitable"

|+Regular season{{Cite web|url=http://www.bclions.com/uploads/assets/BC/pdfs/History/Team_Records.pdf |title=BC Lions Team Records (To 2008) |publisher=BC Lions |access-date=October 11, 2009 |format=PDF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100104081358/http://bclions.com/uploads/assets/BC/pdfs/History/Team_Records.pdf |archive-date=January 4, 2010 }}

|Games coached

|Ties = 1 point

|Wins = 2 points

|PTS

|Points

|Losses = 0 points

|W%

|Winning percentage{{ref label|Note2|b|b}}

class="wikitable"

|+Playoffs and Grey Cup{{Cite web|url=http://www.bclions.com/uploads/assets/BC/pdfs/History/Playoff_Records.pdf |title=BC Lions Playoff Records (To 2008) |publisher=BC Lions |access-date=October 11, 2009 |format=PDF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100104110745/http://bclions.com/uploads/assets/BC/pdfs/History/Playoff_Records.pdf |archive-date=January 4, 2010 }}{{Cite web|url=http://www.bclions.com/uploads/assets/BC/pdfs/History/Grey_Cup_Records.pdf |title=BC Lions Grey Cup Records (To 2008) |publisher=BC Lions |access-date=October 11, 2009 |format=PDF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100104081700/http://bclions.com/uploads/assets/BC/pdfs/History/Grey_Cup_Records.pdf |archive-date=January 4, 2010 }}

PGC

|Games coached

|Wins

|Losses

PW%

|Winning percentage

Head coaches

File:AdamRita.jpg

File:Mike Benevides.jpg

File:2022, Coach Buck Pierce.jpg

Note: Statistics are current through the end of the 2024 CFL season.

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

! #

! width=100| Name

! Term{{ref label|Note2|b|b}}

! GC

! W

! L

! T

! PTS

! W%

! PGC

! PW

! PL

! PW%

! class=unsortable| Achievements{{Cite web|url=https://www.cfl.ca/page/coty_main_new|title=Coach of the Year|publisher=Canadian Football League|access-date=October 11, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090725113704/http://www.cfl.ca/page/coty_main_new|archive-date=July 25, 2009}}

{{ntsh|1}}1

|align=left style="background-color:#FFE6BD"|{{sortname|Annis|Stukus}}†

|1954–1955

|32

|26

|12

|.188

|{{ntsh|0}}—

{{ntsh|2}}2

|align=left|{{sortname|Clem|Crowe}}

|1956–{{cfly|1958}}

|35

|10

|24

|21

|.300

|{{ntsh|0}}—

{{ntsh|3}}–

|—{{ref label|Note3|c|c}}

|{{cfly|1958}}

|.000

|{{ntsh|0}}—

{{ntsh|4}}3

|align=left|{{sortname|Dan|Edwards|Dan Edwards (American football)}}

|{{cfly|1958}}

|11

|.273

|{{ntsh|0}}—

{{ntsh|5}}4

|align=left|{{sortname|Wayne|Robinson}}

|{{cfly|1959}}–{{cfly|1961}}

|39

|14

|22

|31

|.397

|.000

{{ntsh|6}}5

|align=left|{{sortname|Dave|Skrien}}

|{{cfly|1961}}–{{cfly|1967}}

|92

|42

|45

|89

|.484

|.625

|{{cfly|1963}} Annis Stukus Trophy winner
52nd Grey Cup championship

{{ntsh|7}}6

|align=left|{{sortname|Ron|Morris|Ron Morris (Canadian football)}}

|{{cfly|1967}}

|.000

|{{ntsh|0}}—

{{ntsh|8}}7

|align=left|{{sortname|Jim|Champion|dab=gridiron football}}

|{{cfly|1967}}–{{cfly|1969}}

|38

|28

|18

|.237

|{{ntsh|0}}—

{{ntsh|9}}8

|align=left|{{sortname|Jackie|Parker}}

|{{cfly|1969}}–{{cfly|1970}}

|22

|10

|12

|20

|.454

|.000

{{ntsh|10}}9

|align=left style="background-color:#FFE6BD"|{{sortname|Eagle|Keys}}†

|{{cfly|1971}}–{{cfly|1975}}

|70

|25

|42

|53

|.379

|.000

{{ntsh|11}}10

|align=left style="background-color:#FFE6BD"|{{sortname|Cal|Murphy}}†

|{{cfly|1975}}–{{cfly|1976}}

|26

|10

|14

|22

|.423

|{{ntsh|0}}—

{{ntsh|12}}11

|align=left|{{sortname|Vic|Rapp}}

|{{cfly|1977}}–{{cfly|1982}}

|96

|53

|39

|110

|.573

|.400

|{{cfly|1977}} Annis Stukus Trophy winner

{{ntsh|13}}12

|align=left style="background-color:#FFE6BD"|{{sortname|Don|Matthews}}†

|{{cfly|1983}}–{{cfly|1987}}

|80

|56

|23

|113

|.706

|.571

|{{cfly|1985}} Annis Stukus Trophy winner
73rd Grey Cup championship

{{ntsh|14}}13

|align=left|{{sortname|Larry|Donovan}}

|{{cfly|1987}}–{{cfly|1989}}

|26

|14

|12

|28

|.538

|.500

{{ntsh|15}}14

|align=left|{{sortname|Joe|Galat}}

|{{cfly|1989}}

|14

|.500

|{{ntsh|0}}—

{{ntsh|16}}15

|align=left|{{sortname|Lary|Kuharich}}

|{{cfly|1990}}

|10

|.250

|{{ntsh|0}}—

{{ntsh|17}}16

|align=left|{{sortname|Jim|Young}}

|{{cfly|1990}}

|.000

|{{ntsh|0}}—

{{ntsh|18}}17

|align=left style="background-color:#FFE6BD"|{{sortname|Bob|O'Billovich}}†

|{{cfly|1990}}–{{cfly|1992}}

|43

|18

|25

|36

|.419

|.000

{{ntsh|19}}18

|align=left|{{sortname|Dave|Ritchie|Dave Ritchie (Canadian football)}}

|{{cfly|1993}}–{{cfly|1995}}

|54

|31

|22

|63

|.583

|.600

|82nd Grey Cup championship

{{ntsh|20}}19

|align=left|{{sortname|Joe|Paopao}}

|{{cfly|1996}}

|18

|13

|10

|.278

|{{ntsh|0}}—

{{ntsh|21}}20

|align=left|{{sortname|Adam|Rita}}

|{{cfly|1997}}–{{cfly|1998}}

|27

|11

|16

|22

|.407

|.000

{{ntsh|22}}21

|align=left|{{sortname|Greg|Mohns}}

|{{cfly|1998}}–{{cfly|2000}}

|34

|22

|12

|44

|.647

|.000

{{ntsh|23}}22

|align=left|{{sortname|Steve|Buratto}}

|{{cfly|2000}}–{{cfly|2002}}

|35

|14

|21

|29

|.414

|.750

|88th Grey Cup championship

{{ntsh|24}}–

|align=left|{{sortname|Adam|Rita}}

|{{cfly|2002}}

|12

|18

|.750

|.000

{{ntsh|25}}23

|align=left style="background-color:#FFE6BD"|{{sortname|Wally|Buono}}†

|{{cfly|2003}}–{{cfly|2011}}

|162

|101

|60

|203

|.627

|14

|.500

|94th Grey Cup championship
{{cfly|2006}} Annis Stukus Trophy winner
99th Grey Cup championship
{{cfly|2011}} Annis Stukus Trophy winner

{{ntsh|26}}24

|align=left|{{sortname|Mike|Benevides}}

|{{cfly|2012}}–{{cfly|2014}}

|54

|33

|21

|66

|.611

|.000

{{ntsh|27}}25

|align=left|{{sortname|Jeff|Tedford}}

|{{cfly|2015}}

|18

|11

|14

|.389

|.000

{{ntsh|28}}-

|align=left style="background-color:#FFE6BD"|{{sortname|Wally|Buono}}†

|{{cfly|2016}}–{{cfly|2018}}

|54

|28

|26

|56

|.519

|.333

{{ntsh|29}}26

|align=left|{{sortname|DeVone|Claybrooks}}

|{{cfly|2019}}

|18

|13

|10

|.278

|{{ntsh|0}}—

{{ntsh|30}}27

|align=left|{{sortname|Rick|Campbell}}

|{{cfly|2020|2024}}

|68

|38

|30

|58

|.559

|.400

Notes

{{note label|Note1|a|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.
{{note label|Note2|b|b}} Each year is linked to an article about that particular CFL season.
{{note label|Note3|c|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.

References

;General

{{Cite web|url=http://bclions.com/uploads/assets/BC/pages/History/Documents/Coaches%20&%20Attendance.pdf |title=BC Lions All-Time Coaches Record Since 1954 |publisher=BC Lions |access-date=December 24, 2013 |format=PDF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130119233814/http://bclions.com/uploads/assets/BC/pages/History/Documents/Coaches%20%26%20Attendance.pdf |archive-date=January 19, 2013 }}
{{Cite web|url=http://bclions.com/uploads/assets/BC/pages/History/Documents/Year-by-Year%20-%20part%201.pdf |title=BC Lions Year-by-Year History |publisher=BC Lions |access-date=December 24, 2013 |format=PDF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130910214919/http://bclions.com/uploads/assets/BC/pages/History/Documents/Year-by-Year%20-%20part%201.pdf |archive-date=September 10, 2013 }}

;Specific

Category:Lists of Canadian Football League head coaches by team

Head Coaches