What Model Will Buck Pierce Bring to the BC Lions is the question that I'm confident Buck has the right answers to.
BC heads into the season with a lot of unknowns including what version of Nathan Rourke is back in the CFL.
Buck Pierce has learned from two of the best CFL coaches in Wally Buono and Mike O’Shea.
But I'm confident his model looks more like Winnipeg’s.
Former assistants proving to be top CFL coaches on other teams who got it right on promotion include Ryan Dinwiddie and Corey Mace. The new version of Jason Maas in Montreal got a second chance and now he's got it right.
Dinwiddie said at his first GC appearance his model of a franchise was Winnipeg even though he came from Calgary.
Mace is looking like his model was Toronto. Both of these I believe were with Jon Hufnagel in Calgary and then Dave D.
Dave D like Mike B of BC Lions are not those guys (Dinwiddie and Mace nor Maas 2.0) as their teams declined in performance so I'm suggesting their model, philosophy and grasp of what it takes to be a successful HC and win was not what it needed to be.
If your model was all out Wally Buono, it's incomplete.
A strict Wally Buono’s model is missing something. Buono created a high-performance culture where every player knew the GM/HC’s job was to find someone better. If he thought a guy was on the decline, he'd toss the milk out before the best before date.
That mindset built accountability and consistency, but it wasn’t about creativity or innovation—it was about execution. Trick plays? Those were for losing teams.
Buck Pierce made it clear:
“Our vision for this club is an identity of toughness, grit, integrity, and accountability. The standard will be set early and we will hold ourselves and our players to that standard.”
He also emphasizes communication and collaboration, something he took from O’Shea in Winnipeg:
“The importance of team and how we are going to build things… It’s about the people you surround yourself with.”
There is a 3Down article where Buck spoke about the dynamics of his coaching staff, suggesting something that many coaches including the last regime missed in my view. While Buck stressed he wants a collaborative environment where all coaches can grow, learn and excel, I believe this is a bit of how O'Shea leads as HC where the HC is the coach of coaches as well. Where he holds assistants accountable for how they do their job and how the HC is accountable to the coaches and players as well.
I don't think I'm wrong here but Buck seems to grasp the O'Shea thinking on this. It works for O'Shea as he can be seen picking up an equipment bag and Buck has always been a humble person even in college.
A case in point. The HC will hold his assistants to account if an OC doesn't invite a QB he doesn't like to a meeting. He won't turn a blind eye. If the DC is failing, he'll coach that up as well.
While one could say they're nice words, if I have any insight into how Mike O'Shea leads, I'm confident that he coaches the coaches and believes in the leadership view that there is a two way accountability there. In other words, Buck is
“The biggest thing is the players dictate what you’re going to look like… It’s truly our job to put the players in the best possible situations.”
This tells me he’s not just taking Buono’s hard-nosed approach—he’s blending it with a more player-focused, adaptable style. If he brings the size, toughness, and physicality Winnipeg has built and mixes in innovative, exciting football, BC will be in good hands.
