Yahoo Sports 
Hall of Famer Wally Buono never saw himself as a Canadian coach, sees room for other Canadians
REGINA—Of the seven members of the the Canadian Football Hall of Fame's newest class who were introduced at a party Friday night, only one is still active. That would be B.C. Lions general manager Wally Buono, inducted for an incredible coaching career that saw him rack up more wins than any coach in CFL history (254) over two decades with the Lions and the Calgary Stampeders. Buono, a four-time coach of the year, won five Grey Cups and appeared in nine. He's unique on another front, too, as he's currently the only Canadian serving as a full general manager in the CFL (although acting Winnipeg GM Kyle Walters may soon join him). Despite Canadian coaches and general managers being a rarity in the CFL, Buono said he never worried too much about his citizenship, though.
"I've never seen myself as a Canadian coach," he said. "I kind of struggled with that as a player. As a coach, there's no ratio, there's no formula. They hire you because they believe you can do the job."
It helped that one of Buono's coaching mentors was famed Bombers' player, coach and executive Cal Murphy, a fellow Canadian.
"I think one of my great models was Cal Murphy," Buono said. "When I first got into coaching, Cal was very supportive. He always took the time to talk to me if I needed some advice or information. He was there for me."
Buono said he thinks the pathway is wide open for talented Canadian coaches to follow in his footsteps. The Lions have a Canadian head coach in Mike Benevides, and with Walters and others taking on larger front-office roles, there may be more Canadians on coaching staffs in the years to come. Buono said he doesn't want to see coaches defined by where they were born, though.
"There's a lot of great coaches in the CIS and there's a lot of great coaches in the CFL," he said. "You're not limited by your birth certificate."
Before he took up coaching, Buono spent 10 years with the Montreal Alouettes as a linebacker and a punter. He said he didn't plan to become a coach, but it was a logical transition given his fondness for the mental side of football.
"I enjoyed playing, I always enjoyed the mental part of the game," Buono said. Coaches always challenged you to know not just what you did, but what everyone else around you did. When I look back on it, that's what I was good at and that's what I had a passion to do."
He said the coaches he learned from during his playing career and afterwards helped mould him into the coach he became.
"As a player, I was mentored by some tremendous people. Marv Levy was a tremendous motivator, a great communicator. Some of the coaches I've worked for, Rod Rust, Dick Roach, Lamar Leachman and Joe Glatt, these were in my mind the men that helped me evolve into the kind of coach I wanted to be, how I would approach the game and how I would manage men. It's something that you continue to learn every day. I'm still learning."
Buono said while his championships are highlights, his favourite moments in coaching come from when he hears from former players who say he inspired them to greatness off the field.
"It's when you get a phone call from a player you haven't heard from years and he tells you how much you helped him to be a better man, be a better father, be a better husband, or you know, he's done something with his life because somehow you inspired him."
More Grey Cup coverage on Yahoo Sports
