Sherman Lewis (born June 29, 1942) is an American former professionalfootball player and coach. He played professionally in theNational Football League (NFL) andCanadian Football League (CFL) before spending 34 years as a coach. Lewis attendedMichigan State University as an undergrad and later received his graduate degree in education administration.^{[citation needed]}

Lewis began his collegiate football career at Michigan State as ahalfback. He was named to theCollege Football All-America Team and finished third behind winnerRoger Staubach and runner-upBilly Lothridge for theHeisman Trophy in 1963. His professional playing career included parts of the 1964 and 1965 seasons with theToronto Argonauts of theCanadian Football League. He also played the 1966 and 1967 seasons with theNew York Jets of theAmerican Football League (when the AFL was absorbed by, but not yet merged with, theNational Football League).

After a brief career as a professional football player, he was hired as an assistant coach for the football team at his alma mater, Michigan State, from 1969 through 1982. He went on to become the running backs coach forBill Walsh, under whom theSan Francisco 49ers won threeSuper Bowls. In 1992, he became theoffensive coordinator for theGreen Bay Packers under head coachMike Holmgren. Despite his success as a coordinator, Lewis notably never became a head coach, with Lewis not being interviewed for a position even during the victorious 1996 season.^[1] Despite being endorsed by Holmgren, he never was hired to become a head coach. When asked in 2015 about his career, he stated, "We won Super Bowls in San Francisco and one in Green Bay. And I got to work with some great coaches and players. No question I wished I had the chance to be a head coach. But looking back, I did all I could. I was disappointed, but I'm not going to hang my hat on that. I had a great career and was fortunate to coach in the NFL."^[2]

In October 2009, Lewis was hired by theWashington Redskins to serve as an offensive consultant for the team under head coachJim Zorn. He eventually began to call plays for the team after Zorn was stripped of those duties by the team's front office.^[3][4] Lewis was not retained after the season. In 2023, he was a recipient of the Award of Excellence by thePro Football Hall of Fame.^[5]

• 1942 births
• Living people
• All-American college football players
• African-American coaches of American football
• American Football League players
• Detroit Lions coaches
• Green Bay Packers coaches
• Minnesota Vikings coaches
• San Francisco 49ers coaches
• Washington Redskins coaches
• Michigan State University alumni
• Michigan State Spartans football players
• NFL offensive coordinators
• New York Jets players
• Toronto Argonauts players
• Players of American football from Louisville, Kentucky
• Players of Canadian football from Louisville, Kentucky
• DuPont Manual High School alumni
• 21st-century African-American sportsmen
• 20th-century African-American sportsmen
• 21st-century American sportsmen

• Webarchive template wayback links
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from July 2024
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from September 2024