List of Canadian Football League head coaches by wins

Wally Buono, the all-time winningest coach in the Canadian Football League

This article contains a list of Canadian Football League head coaches by regular season wins. This list is current through the close of the 2024 regular season.

This list also includes coaches who coached in the CFL's predecessor leagues, the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (CFL East Division) and the Western Interprovincial Football Union (CFL West Division).

Wally Buono is the all-time leader in both wins and losses with 282 wins, 165 losses, and three ties. Eleven coaches have more than 100 wins and only Buono and Don Matthews have more than 200.

As of the end of the 2024 CFL season, the active head coach with the most wins is Mike O'Shea, who has 107 wins and 69 losses.

Five head coaches share the record for Grey Cup championships at five: Wally Buono, Don Matthews, Frank Clair, Hugh Campbell, and Lew Hayman.[1]

Top 20 head coaches by regular season wins

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Key
† Elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame as a builder
‡ Elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame as a player
* Denotes active head coach
Coaches ranked by regular-season wins, then winning percentage
Rank Coach Seasons Teams Team
Wins		 Team
Losses		 Team
Ties		 Career
Wins		 Career
Losses		 Ties Pct Ref.
1 Wally Buono† 1990–2002 Calgary Stampeders 153 79 2 282 165 3 .630 [2]
2003–11, 2016–18 BC Lions 129 86 1
2 Don Matthews† 1983–1987 BC Lions 56 23 1 231 133 1 .634 [3]
1990, 1996–98, 2008 Toronto Argonauts 49 31 0
1991–93 Saskatchewan Roughriders 25 22 0
1994–95 Baltimore Stallions 27 9 0
1999–2000 Edmonton Eskimos 16 20 0
2002–06 Montreal Alouettes 58 28 0
3 Frank Clair† 1950–54 Toronto Argonauts 31 31 2 147 106 7 .579 [4]
1956–69 Ottawa Rough Riders 116 75 5
4 Ron Lancaster‡ 1979–80 Saskatchewan Roughriders 4 28 0 142 137 1 .509 [5]
1991–97 Edmonton Eskimos 83 43 0
1998–2003, 2006 Hamilton Tiger-Cats 55 66 1
5 Eagle Keys† 1959–63 Edmonton Eskimos 38 40 2 131 107 8 .549 [6]
1965–70 Saskatchewan Roughriders 68 25 3
1971–75 BC Lions 25 42 3
6 Ray Jauch† 1970–76 Edmonton Eskimos 65 43 4 127 94 4 .573 [7]
1978–82 Winnipeg Blue Bombers 45 35 0
1994–95 Saskatchewan Roughriders 17 19 0
7 Dave Ritchie† 1993–95 BC Lions 31 22 1 108 76 3 .586 [8]
1997–98 Montreal Alouettes 25 10 1
1999–2004 Winnipeg Blue Bombers 52 44 1
8 Bob O'Billovich† 1982–89, 1993–95 Toronto Argonauts 89 79 3 107 104 3 .507 [9]
1990–92 BC Lions 18 25 0
9 Mike O'Shea‡* 2014–present Winnipeg Blue Bombers 107 69 0 107 69 0 .608 [10]
10 John Hufnagel† 2008–15 Calgary Stampeders 102 41 1 102 41 1 .712 [11]
11 Bud Grant† 1957–66 Winnipeg Blue Bombers 102 56 2 102 56 2 .644 [12]
12 Cal Murphy† 1975–76 BC Lions 10 14 2 99 80 3 .552 [13]
1983–86, 1993–96 Winnipeg Blue Bombers 86 51 1
1999 Saskatchewan Roughriders 3 15 0
13 Tom Higgins 2001–04 Edmonton Eskimos 44 28 0 84 67 1 .552 [14]
2005–07 Calgary Stampeders 28 25 1
2014–15 Montreal Alouettes 12 14 0
14 Dave Dickenson‡* 2016–present Calgary Stampeders 84 53 3 84 53 3 .611 [15]
15 Jack Gotta 1970–73 Ottawa Rough Riders 30 26 0 83 82 5 .503 [16]
1977–79, 1982–83 Calgary Stampeders 42 34 4
1985–86 Saskatchewan Roughriders 11 22 1
16 George Brancato 1974–84 Ottawa Rough Riders 82 90 4 82 90 4 .477 [17]
17 Rick Campbell* 2014–19 Ottawa Redblacks 44 62 2 82 92 2 .472 [18]
2020–present BC Lions 38 30 0
18 Jim Trimble 1957–65 Hamilton Tiger-Cats 60 36 2 77 61 2 .557 [19]
1963–65 Montreal Alouettes 17 25 0
19 Marc Trestman 2008–12 Montreal Alouettes 59 31 0 72 54 0 .571 [20]
2017–18 Toronto Argonauts 13 23 0
20 Jerry Williams 1965–68, 1981 Calgary Stampeders 41 26 1 71 55 2 .563 [21]
1972–75 Hamilton Tiger-Cats 30 29 1

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "CFL Guide and Record Book, 2017 Edition" (PDF). Canadian Football League. p. 19. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  2. ^ "Wally Buono coaching record". justsportsstats.com. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  3. ^ "Don Matthews coaching record". justsportsstats.com. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  4. ^ "Frank Clair search results". justsportsstats.com. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  5. ^ "Ron Lancaster search results". justsportsstats.com. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  6. ^ "Eagle Keys search results". justsportsstats.com. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  7. ^ "Ray Jauch coaching record". justsportsstats.com. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  8. ^ "Dave Ritchie search results". justsportsstats.com. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  9. ^ "Bob O'Billovich search results". justsportsstats.com. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  10. ^ "Mike O'Shea". statscrew.com. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  11. ^ "John Hufnagel search results". justsportsstats.com. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  12. ^ "Bud Grant search results". justsportsstats.com. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  13. ^ "Cal Murphy". statscrew.com. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  14. ^ "Tom Higgins". statscrew.com. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  15. ^ "Dave Dickenson". statscrew.com. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  16. ^ "Jack Gotta". statscrew.com. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  17. ^ "George Brancato". statscrew.com. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  18. ^ "Rick Campbell". statscrew.com. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  19. ^ "Jim Trimble". statscrew.com. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  20. ^ "Marc Trestman". statscrew.com. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  21. ^ "Jerry Williams". statscrew.com. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
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