For Jovan Olafioye, there could have been no more perfect messenger for his Hall of Fame enshrinement than the man who started it all.
The 37-year-old former offensive tackle had a vague sense that his candidacy was being considered for the highest honour in Canadian football, but wasn’t expecting his phone to ring in the dying hours of the evening. When he saw it was his 75-year-old former head coach Wally Buono on call display, he initially feared the worst.
“It was actually kind of late, almost 12 o’clock at night, so when I got the call my first thought was ‘I hope nothing happened.’ Then when I heard his voice I knew, okay, something must be going on,” Olafioye recalled with a smile.
Buono, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a builder in 2014, was still leading the B.C. Lions as head coach when Olafioye joined the team in 2010. He would eventually shift his focus to the general manager’s chair before returning to the sideline for the final few years of both of their careers.
Olafioye spent eight of his nine CFL seasons under Buono’s leadership, the lone exception being a one-year foray with the Montreal Alouettes. It was the legendary coach who brought him into the fold and the pair both retired following the 2018 season. Now, they’ll be teammates for eternity.
“It was a great conversation. It couldn’t have come from a better person, a better coach than Wally Buono, because he gave me my opportunity. He was just a great coach, a great man, a great father,” Olafioye said. “I owe this all to him. He worked me out, and he’s the one that basically said I’m gonna bring you to camp. It was great. He is who he is, he’s the all-time winningest coach and he is the man out there.”
While the six-foot-six, 325-pound blocker feels immense pride that his bust will sit a few spots down from his mentor, he believes there is another statue missing from the walls of Hamilton Stadium. Buono may have given a kid from North Carolina Central his shot but it was someone else who shaped him into a seven-time all-star worthy of Hall of Fame induction: Dan Dorazio.
The legendary CFL offensive line coach was Buono’s most trusted assistant for much of his career, spending 20 years with him between stops in Calgary and B.C. Along the way, he won four Grey Cups and produced three Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman winners, none more dominant than Olafioye.
“Without [Dorazio], I wouldn’t be here,” he insisted. “He took so much time with me just for me to become a better football player. Pulling me aside, coming up to the facility early in the morning, extra time after practice, just talking to me all the time, motivating me.”
“His time and how he prepared us was phenomenal. Not putting down the other coaches I had, I never had no coach like him. How you break down film, how you break down the player, and how you are supposed to block the player — he went above and beyond to make sure his players were prepared. On top of that, he was just a great person and a great man. I’m forever indebted in gratitude, just like I am to Wally. Those guys are always gonna be number one in my book.”
Without the benefit of official statistics, offensive linemen often have an extended wait to make it into the Hall of Fame. Despite being the most dominant bookend of his era, Olafioye had to wait four years after becoming eligible to get the call. It took 16 years for his fellow Class of 2025 honouree Bryan Chiu to get in, despite an extremely similar resume. However, the only people with longer odds for enshrinement appear to be assistant coaches.
All coaches, administrators, officials, and executives are eligible for the Hall at any time, but voters have traditionally stuck to honouring those with compelling head coaching resumes. That has left long-time coordinators and positional coaches largely unrecognized for their massive contributions to the sport.
Dorazio was a seminal figure in the way that offensive line play was taught on both sides of the border, but passed away in August 2024 at the age of 72 having never been immortalized by the league to which he dedicated 22 seasons. Olafioye believes his coach had a Hall of Fame career and deserves to be recognized alongside his players and boss.
“No question,” he said. “I just think he kind of engineered offensive line play in the CFL at that time with his techniques. He used to tell me all the time about him going to these cool Mushroom Clinics and showing his techniques, and he was just so known.”
“I remember trying out for all the NFL teams, every offensive line coach had his number in their phone. Everybody knew who he was and his pedigree and the things he did, how passionate he was about the game — not only the game but his players. I think he should get recognized if that’s possible.”
A number of Dorazio’s players have spoken glowingly about him in the past, with veteran centre Angus Reid even writing a book about his unique impact on him. His lessons will continue to be felt in the professional ranks for some time, as he spent the final year of his life with the University of British Columbia, helping to shape Theo Benedet and Giovanni Manu into NFL players.
Medical issues prevented Olafioye from ever making that leap, as the St. Louis Rams famously voided his contract due to high blood pressure. Because of Buono’s belief and Dorazio’s tutelage, he was still able to carve himself into CFL history.
“It’s a great honour. I think it’s one of the best honours you can get in any type of professional sport,” he said. “It’s something that you think about, but you don’t know if you’re gonna get it or not. You just play your heart out, work hard every day, put your head down, and hopefully, when all the ends meet, you have the opportunity to go into the Hall of Fame. It’s definitely a dream come true.”
The post Jovan Olafioye honoured to join mentor Wally Buono in Hall of Fame, believes late Dan Dorazio should follow appeared first on 3DownNation.
