BUONO HEADLINES 2014 INDUCTION CLASS

REGINA – He’s the winningest coach in CFL history, a seven-time Grey Cup champion and one of the league’s longest-serving and most respected executives.

And now, Wally Buono is a Hall of Famer.

The B.C. Lions general manager and vice-president of football operations headlines the class of 2014, which was unveiled Friday night by the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

Also named for induction were former CFL players Ben Cahoon, Uzooma Okeke, Maurice (Moe) Racine and Charles Roberts as well as builder Larry Haylor (longtime CIS head coach) and former Ottawa Gee-Gees star running back Neil Lumsden.

Buono, 63, a native of Potenza, Italy, who grew up in Montreal, has the most career wins (254) of any CFL coach. Buono served as head coach and GM of the Calgary Stampeders from 1990-’02 before moving over to the B.C. Lions, remaining on the sidelines through the 2011 when he retired from coaching after the last of his record-tying five Grey Cup victories as a head coach to concentrate full-time on his GM duties.

Buono also won two Grey Cups as a player with the Montreal Alouettes before retiring in ’83 to become an assistant coach with the Concordes. Four times he’s received the Annis Stukus Trophy as the CFL’s coach of the year.