Buono: A man among football men
Both as student and mentor, retiring Lions field boss has touched many lives
Rod Rust was the Montreal Alouettes’ defensive coordinator when Wally Buono broke into the Canadian Football League, and the veteran coach made a deep impression on the young linebacker.
Rust, who was brought to Montreal by then head coach Marv Levy, was an innovator. He was also a leader who knew when to befriend his players and when to play the hard ass.
And he had credentials. To that point in his career, Rust had already coached Mean Joe Greene at North Texas State after serving on Levy’s staff at New Mexico and working with Dick Vermeil at Stanford. He would return to coach the Als in 2001 and finally retire after 50 years in the game. Rust died on Oct. 23 at age 90.
“He was a special person and a special friend,” Buono says. “These guys affect you in a profound way. You want to be the coach they are and the man they are.”
Buono thinks about men like Rust these days, partly because that’s who he is, and partly because there’s always someone around who will ask him about those who shaped his career. Buono, of course, is retiring at the conclusion of this season, and he’s avoided the big-picture questions about his football life and his world as the clock ticks down to zero.
But it’s always with him, always a part of him, because that comes with the territory when you touch as many lives as Buono has touched. It’s now been 45 years since Buono first played for Rust and there have been a lot of Rod Rusts in his life.
But there have been even more who have been shaped and influenced by Buono. In the record books, he’ll be remembered as the winningest coach in CFL history. For many men, he’ll be remembered as so much more.
“You can’t have that long of a career without having success,” says Lions GM Ed Hervey. “That’s the first thing. But it’s more than that with Wally. It’s the way he treats people and the way he goes about his day-to-day.”
Hervey has arrived at the end of Buono’s career. Here’s someone who was there at the beginning.
“One of the things we had in Montreal that we took to Buffalo (Bills) is that we’d only bring players with high character,” the 93-year-old Levy says from his Chicago home. “Their personalities might be different, but you knew what you were going to get from them. Wally Buono and his teammates exemplified that.
“Would have I ever dreamed he’d have the career he had? No. But I saw the qualities that would make a great head coach.”
As for the scope of that career, consider the following: Levy was the Washington Redskins’ special teams coach under the legendary George Allen in the early 1970s, Allen coached against “Papa Bear” George Halas in the ’60s. Halas coached and played against the legendary multi-sport athlete Jim Thorpe in the earliest days of the National Football League.
This six degrees of separation with Wally Buono is a fun game to play.
The men who have played roles in Buono’s professional life, moreover, represent a fascinating and disparate group who are connected through their monomaniacal pursuit of winning.
There couldn’t be two more different people on the planet than Buono and the late Don Matthews, but the two coaches shared something that transcended their personalities.
“We both knew how hard it was to win and no one else appreciated it,” Buono said. “Don and I talked about this. He understood the wear, the tear, the emotional strain. It’s hard on the players, but I think it’s harder on the person who has to push everyone’s buttons.
“See, there’s no one pushing your buttons. I don’t feel like getting out of bed every day. But you do it. And when you get here, you have to be all in.”
But Wally, isn’t winning the reason why you put in all those hours, why you exhaust yourself physically and mentally to have that moment? Get ready for his answer. “You don’t enjoy winning. Winning becomes an albatross. The difference is, people perceive you to be happy and successful. The pressure of winning all the time is difficult. If you didn’t win the Grey Cup, everyone thought you were a failure (in his career Buono has had four 14-plus win teams that failed
Winning is tough and we’re not in the entertainment business. We’re in the winning business.” Wally Buono
to win a Grey Cup).
“Winning is tough and we’re not in the entertainment business. We’re in the winning business.”
Which helps explain Buono’s relationship with another incongruent personality, Roy Shivers.
Shivers was raised in the Oakland projects, where he went to school with Bill Russell, Frank Robinson and the founding members of the Black Panthers. In 1991, Buono, who was raised in Laval, promoted him to the assistant general manager’s post in Calgary. From 199294, the Stamps went 43-11 in the regular season.
Shivers would become the first black GM in the CFL, first with Birmingham, then with Saskatchewan. After he was fired by the Riders, Buono hired him as the Lions’ director of player personnel in 2008.
“I think Wally sees talent, good football people who can do the job,” said Hervey. “Just look at his career.”
You’ll find Shivers isn’t the only man of colour given an opportunity by Buono.
“I was an Italian immigrant who couldn’t speak the language (when he came to Canada as a boy),” Buono said. “You don’t think I didn’t face prejudice when I was young?”
Buono has since lobbied for Shivers’ induction into the CFL Hall of Fame. A couple of years ago, the two men had a falling out when Buono made Shivers a consultant and promoted Geroy Simon to a fulltime personnel position.
This week, Shivers reached out to his former boss.
“That made me really happy,” Buono said.
As it should. The wins, after all, come and go. The relationships and everything they represent are what endures.