 Sherman in 2003 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1954-12-19)December 19, 1954 (age 70) Norwood, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Career information | |
| High school | Algonquin Regional (Northborough, Massachusetts) |
| College | Central Connecticut (1974–1977) |
| NFL draft | 1978: undrafted |
| Career history | |
Coaching | |
| |
Operations | |
| |
| Head coaching record | |
| Regular season | NFL: 57–39 (.594) NCAA: 25–25 (.500) CFL: 5–13 (.278) |
| Postseason | NFL: 2–4 (.333) Bowl games: 0–2 (.000) CFL: 0–0 (–) |
| Career | NFL: 59–43 (.578) NCAA: 25–27 (.481) CFL: 5–13 (.278) |
| Coaching profile atPro Football Reference | |
| Executive profile atPro Football Reference | |
Michael Francis Sherman (born December 19, 1954) is an Americanfootball coach and former player. He was the head coach of theGreen Bay Packers of theNational Football League (NFL) from 2000 to 2005. Sherman led the Packers to five consecutive winning seasons from 2000 to 2004 and threedivisional titles in 2002, 2003, and 2004, but never advanced past the divisional round of the playoffs.[1] He was also the head football coach atTexas A&M University from 2008 to 2011. He has also been a coach in the NFL for theSeattle Seahawks,Houston Texans andMiami Dolphins. Before he started coaching in the NFL, he served as an assistant coach at five different colleges, including Texas A&M, where he coached theoffensive line for seven seasons. He is one of only a few coaches that has been a head coach at the high school, college, CFL and NFL levels.[2]
Sherman was born in 1954 inNorwood,Massachusetts. Throughout the 1950s and 60s, Sherman spent his life inHyde Park, Massachusetts, the southernmost neighborhood inBoston. He lived there with his parents, Claire and Frank Sherman, his two sisters, and his two brothers. His extended family members, who lived nearby, were devoutGreen Bay Packers fans and have dutifully followed Sherman's career. Sherman was also raised inNorthborough,Massachusetts, where he attendedAlgonquin Regional High School, playing for thefootball team.
Sherman earned a scholarship to play atCentral Connecticut State University, where he playeddefensive end andoffensive tackle. He majored inEnglish. Though he was considered to be an average player with limited abilities in college, he was noted for his strong commitment. Right after college, Sherman became an English teacher and an assistant football coach, serving atStamford High School in Connecticut in 1978 and atWorcester Academy in Massachusetts from 1979 to 1980.[3][4]
Sherman's father worked for a pipe company in New England and retired in 1991. Both his parents lived on Cape Cod. Sherman has been married to his wife Karen since 1982, and the couple have five children together (Sarah, Emily, Matthew, Benjamin and Selena). Sherman is the father-in-law ofCincinnati Bengals head coachZac Taylor, who is married to his oldest daughter.
Sherman and his family reside onCape Cod. A former reading and special education teacher, Karen is a very active member of the West Dennis Library Board of Trustees.
Sherman started his college coaching career as a graduate assistant at theUniversity of Pittsburgh, where he was part ofJackie Sherrill's staff from 1981 to 1982.[5] While at Pittsburgh, Sherman wasn't able to afford an apartment; instead, he slept on acot inPitt Stadium.[3] After his stay at Pittsburgh, Sherman then coached theoffensive line atTulane from 1983 to 1984, and later moved toHoly Cross, where he coached the offensive line from 1985 to 1987 before becoming theoffensive coordinator for the 1988 season.
From 1989 to 1993, Sherman coached theTexas A&M offensive line. During the 1992–93 season, he met retired head coachGary Kubiak, who had coached the A&Mrunning backs. In 1994, Sherman left Texas A&M to coach theUCLA offensive line, which included formerBaltimore Ravens pro bowlerJonathan Ogden. Sherman later returned to Texas A&M to coach the offensive line again for the 1995–96 seasons. Under Sherman, the Aggie offense averaged over 400 yards of total offense four times in his seven seasons at A&M. The 1990 Aggie team set a school record of 471.1 yards per game. Sherman also helped the Aggies to win threeSouthwest Conference championships consecutively from 1991 to 1993. Additionally, he recruitedLeeland McElroy, who would become one of the Aggies' top 10 all-time leadingrunning backs.[6]
On December 20, 1996, A&M head coachR. C. Slocum promoted Sherman to offensive coordinator to replace dismissedSteve Ensminger.[7] Months later, Sherman resigned to start hisprofessional coaching career as the assistant offensive line andtight ends coach for theGreen Bay Packers. When asked by a reporter why he chose to accept the Green Bay job, Sherman responded: "There is absolutely no other college job I would have left Texas A&M for and only one professional job that I've ever had any interest in and that being the Green Bay Packers. I've enjoyed the small-town atmosphere of College Station for my family, and Green Bay offers that same atmosphere. If the truth be told, there is not a whole lot of difference between an `Aggie' and a `Cheesehead."[8] He served the position for the 1997–98 seasons. After Packers head coachMike Holmgren resigned to accept theSeattle Seahawks head coach position, Holmgren hired Sherman to become the offensive coordinator for the 1999 season.
In 2000, Sherman became the head coach of theGreen Bay Packers. He led the Packers to five consecutive winning seasons from 2000 to 2004. From 2002 to 2004, he led the Packers to three consecutiveNFC North Division titles. From 2000 to 2004, he compiled a 53–27 record, and a .663 winning percentage, which was the second highest in Packers history, trailing that ofVince Lombardi's, who is one of the most successful coaches in the history of football. Additionally, Green Bay and thePhiladelphia Eagles were the only two teams to make the playoffs for four consecutive seasons from 2001 to 2004.
An offensive-minded coach, Sherman led the Packers to break franchise records for rushing in 2003 and passing in 2004. In 2003, PackersquarterbackBrett Favre led the NFL in touchdown passes, in addition to setting a franchise record for rushing yardage. The 2003 team also gained a total of 442 points, which is the fourth most in franchise history (560 in 2011, 461 in 2009, 456 in 1996, when the team won theSuper Bowl).
Despite receiving a contract extension earlier in the 2005 season, Sherman was fired by the Packers on January 2, 2006, after compiling a 4–12 record — Green Bay's first losing record since the1991 season (it was also Sherman's only losing season during his Packers tenure). The Packers had lostpro bowlersJavon Walker,Bubba Franks andAhman Green toinjured reserve early in the season.[9]
In his six-year head coaching career with the Packers from 2000 to 2005, Sherman compiled a 57–39 regular season record and a 2–4 postseason record. Sherman used theWest Coast offense at Green Bay.[10][11]
Sherman succeededRon Wolf asgeneral manager (GM) of the Packers in 2001, taking on the dual role of head coach and general manager. Although the promotion of Sherman to GM was made prior to the2001 NFL draft, Wolf handled the draft duty in 2001. Sherman brought in three of the core players that were on the Packers 2010 roster. He draftedNick Barnett,Scott Wells, and acquired Cullen Jenkins as a rookie free agent after the 2003 draft.
Sherman's first solo draft pick as GM and in charge of the draft wasJavon Walker in 2002, who made thePro Bowl in 2004, and was traded to the Denver Broncos in 2006.
In 2005 the Packers hiredTed Thompson from theSeattle Seahawks to take over Sherman's general manager duties, although Sherman remained the Packers' head coach for one more season.
TheHouston Texans hired Sherman as the assistant head coach/offense coach on February 15, 2006. On January 17, 2007, he was promoted to offensive coordinator following the departure ofTroy Calhoun, who left the Texans to take the head coaching job atAir Force, and Sherman retained his role as assistant head coach. In the2006 season, the Texans'regular seasonoffense ranked 28th out of 32 NFL teams.[12] In the2007 season, Sherman's first year as the offensive coordinator, the Texans' regular season offense improved to a ranking of 14.[13]
The Texans finished the 2006 season with a 6–10 record. In 2007, they finished with an 8–8 record.
Sherman became the head coach of theTexas A&M football team in November 2007.[14] He signed a seven-year contract that at the time paid him $1.8 million annually.[15] Sherman abandoned thezone read option offense run by former A&M coachDennis Franchione, and installed apro-style offense similar to those used in the NFL.[16][17] He uses a balanced offense run primarily out of pro-style formations.[18][19]
After two straight losing seasons, the Aggies started the 2010 season 3–3 but won their final six games to finish 9–3 and earn a share of the Big 12 South Division title.[20] After the 2010 season, he signed a contract extension through the 2015 season. His salary was raised to $2.2 million.[21]
In 2011, the Aggies began as a top 10 ranked team, but fell out of the polls after losing four games, three of which had double-digit half-time leads. Three of those four losses were to teams later ranked among the top ten in the nation. On November 19, 2011, the Aggies defeated Kansas by a score of 61–7 and became bowl-eligible for a third straight season. Five days later, on November 24, 2011, they would lose at home to the University of Texas 27–25 on a last-second field goal, in what would likely be the last game of the rivalry. It was the Aggies' sixth loss of the season, and the fifth in which they held a second-half lead of two or more scores.
The Dolphins hired Sherman as offensive coordinator on January 27, 2012.[22]
On April 27, 2012, the Dolphins draftedRyan Tannehill with the 8th overall pick. Sherman coached Tannehill at Texas A&M and was instrumental in the decision-making leading to the Dolphins selecting Tannehill.[23]
In May 2015,Nauset Regional High School announced Sherman would take over as head football coach following the resignation of coach Keith Kenyon, who became the new assistant principal.[2] After compiling a 4–18 record over two seasons, Sherman resigned in May 2017.[24]
In November 2017, it was announced that Sherman had joinedYour Call Football, a new platform in which fans call plays in real-time in real, live games.[25] Prior to the season, Sherman was hired by theCFL'sMontreal Alouettes. He would still serve as the head coach during Your Call Football's inaugural season.[25]
On December 20, 2017, Sherman was hired by theMontreal Alouettes as head coach. During the2018 CFL season, Sherman, along withJune Jones andMarc Trestman had the distinction of having both CFL and NFL head coaching experience to coach in the same season.[26] He finished with a 5–13 record in his first full season with the Alouettes.[27]
On June 8, 2019, shortly before the start of the regular season and a week after the Alouettes ownership surrendered the franchise back to the CFL, the Alouettes released an ambiguously worded statement claiming that they and Sherman had "agreed to part ways."[28]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| GB | 2000 | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 3rd in NFC Central | – | – | – | – |
| GB | 2001 | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 2nd in NFC Central | 1 | 1 | .500 | Lost toSt. Louis Rams inNFC Divisional Game |
| GB | 2002 | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 1st in NFC North | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost toAtlanta Falcons inNFC Wild Card Game |
| GB | 2003 | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 1st in NFC North | 1 | 1 | .500 | Lost toPhiladelphia Eagles inNFC Divisional Game |
| GB | 2004 | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 1st in NFC North | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost toMinnesota Vikings inNFC Wild Card Game |
| GB | 2005 | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 4th in NFC North | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 57 | 39 | 0 | .594 | ||||||
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas A&M Aggies(Big 12 Conference)(2008–2011) | |||||||||
| 2008 | Texas A&M | 4–8 | 2–6 | T–5th(South) | |||||
| 2009 | Texas A&M | 6–7 | 3–5 | 5th(South) | LIndependence | ||||
| 2010 | Texas A&M | 9–4 | 6–2 | T–1st(South) | LCotton | 21 | 19 | ||
| 2011 | Texas A&M | 6–6[n 1] | 4–5 | T–6th | |||||
| Texas A&M: | 25–25 | 15–18 | |||||||
| Total: | 25–25 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Year | Team | Won | Lost | Tied | Win % | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Nauset Regional High School | 1 | 10 | 0 | .091 | [29] |
| 2016 | Nauset Regional High School | 3 | 8 | 0 | .278 | [30] |
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Result | |||
| MTL | 2018 | 5 | 13 | 0 | .278 | 3rd in East | – | – | Missed playoffs | |
| Total | 5 | 13 | 0 | .278 | 0 Division Championships | 0 | 0 | 0 Grey Cups | ||
Sherman has worked under nine head coaches:
Nine of Sherman's assistant coaches became head coaches in the NFL or NCAA: