Mike Sherman
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| Date of Birth | December 19, 1954 |
| Birthplace | Norwood, Massachusetts |
| Current position | Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator |
| Current Team | Houston Texans |
| Specialty | Offense |
| Previous Team | Green Bay Packers |
| Super Bowl wins as a coach | 0 |
| Years as NFL Player | 0 |
| Years as a Coach | 24 |
| Years as an NFL coach | 8 |
| Years with Current Team | 1 |
| Win-Loss Ratio | 7-8 |
Michael Francis Sherman (born December 19, 1954 in Norwood, Massachusetts) is an American football coach and former general manager who was the head coach of the Green Bay Packers of the NFL from the 2000 season to the 2005 season. Sherman was raised in Northborough, Massachusetts, where he attended Algonquin Regional High School. He and his wife, Karen, have five children: daughters Sarah, Emily and Selena, and sons Matthew and Benjamin.
[edit] Early Career
Sherman played defensive end and offensive tackle at Central Connecticut State University.
Sherman’s coaching career began in 1981-82, when he was a part-time coach at the University of Pittsburgh. From there, he moved on to Tulane, where he coached the offensive line in 1983-84, and then to Holy Cross, where he also coached offensive line in 1985-87 before being named offensive coordinator in 1988.
He spent seven years in College Station as the Texas A&M offensive line coach from 1989-93 and 1995-96, where he met current Texans head coach Gary Kubiak during the 1992-93 seasons. Between those times, Sherman spent the 1994 season as the offensive line coach for UCLA.
Sherman's first coached in the NFL for the Green Bay Packers from 1997-98, when he was the tight ends/assistant offensive line coach. Sherman followed Mike Holmgren to the Seattle Seahawks to become the offensive coordinator for the 1999 season.
[edit] Green Bay Packers Head Coach (2000-2005)
Sherman became Head Coach of the Green Bay Packers in 2000. Until his hiring, he had never been a head coach at any level. Sherman guided the team to five winning seasons in six years. From 2002-2004, Sherman led the Green Bay Packers to three consecutive NFC North division titles. His .663 winning percentage (53-27) over his first five years was second only to the great Vince Lombardi in Packers history. His Green Bay Offense's were the most productive in Packers history. During his tenure the Packers broke the rushing mark and passing mark in back to back years.
In spite of receiving a contract extension earlier in the season, Sherman was fired on January 2, 2006, after the Packers finished with a 4-12 record.
In his six year head coaching career with the Packers, Sherman compiled a 57-39 regular season record and a 2-4 postseason record.
Postseason Summary (2000-2005)
| Season | Opponent | Win/ Loss, Score |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | versus San Francisco 49ers | W, 25-15 |
| 2001 | at St. Louis Rams | L, 17-45 |
| 2002 | versus Atlanta Falcons | L, 7-27 |
| 2003 | versus Seattle Seahawks | W, 33-27 - OT |
| 2003 | at Philadelphia Eagles | L, 17-20 - OT |
| 2004 | versus Minnesota Vikings | L, 17-31 |
[edit] Green Bay Packers General Manager (2001-2004)
Sherman succeeded Ron Wolf as General Manager of the Packers in 2001, taking on the dual role as Head Coach and GM. Although the decision was made prior to the 2001 NFL draft, Wolf was at the controls for the draft that year. Sherman was responsible for the following three drafts (2002-2004).
Many criticisms have been leveled against Mike Sherman as General Manager. Most telling is the accusation that he grew increasingly paranoid and distrustful of his area scouts during his later years as General Manager. It was widely rumored that, during the preparations for the 2004 NFL Draft, Sherman did not allow his area scouts to have access to the draft 'war room'. If true, this was an unprecedented move and one highly disrespectful of the team's scouts. Little information exists as to how Sherman got along with three of his top personnel advisers (John Dorsey - Director of College Scouting, Reggie McKenzie - Director of Pro Personnel, and John Schneider - Personnel Analyst to the General Manager), but it is known that Sherman confided in and greatly trusted his top personnel adviser, Mark Hatley.
An analysis of Mike Sherman's free agent acquisitions reveals decidedly mixed results, with more misses than hits. His most expensive free agent acquisition, DE Joe Johnson, was an extremely below-average player for the Packers. Sherman's decision to re-sign 'Eagle' tackle Cletius Hunt was, again, a mistake. Other free agent mistakes include: mistendering DE Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila (thereby forcing the Packers to match an expensive RFA contract offer from the Philadelphia Eagles), failing to re-sign KR/PR Allen Rossum, signing S Mark Roman, and signing FB Nick Luchey. Sherman did have several good free agent signings during his tenure as GM. These include: signing KR/PR Allen Rossum (2000, with Wolf), signing NT Russell Maryland (2000, with Wolf), re-signing NT Gilbert Brown (2001, with Wolf), re-signing WR Antonio Freeman (2003), signing TE Wesley Walls (2003), and claiming NT Grady Jackson off of waivers from New Orleans (2003).
Four other player personnel decisions haunted and helped to define Mike Sherman's tenure as Packers General Manager. First, Mike Sherman cut LB Hunter Hillenmeyer during training camp before the 2003 NFL Season after Hillenmeyer showed much promise during his rookie season with the Packers. The Chicago Bears promptly claimed him off of waivers from the Packers, and he has been a key contributor as the starting SLB for the Bears ever since. Second, Mike Sherman kept two punters on his 53 man actives roster for the entire 2004 NFL season. Sherman did this simply to prevent other teams from 'stealing' Sander from the Packers. This could normally be justified as a prudent move, provided the player being protected is any good. However, Sanders was so horrible in training camp that he lost the punting job to journeyman punter Bryan Barker after being given every opportunity to win it. Third, during training camp leading up to the 2004 NFL Season, Mike Sherman communicated poorly with red-chip CB Mike McKenzie (one of Ron Wolf's better draft picks). As a result, Mike McKenzie held out and demanded to be traded. Sherman reluctantly obliged, and traded McKenzie to the New Orleans Saints for a 2nd round draft pick. McKenzie's departure broke up one the better cornerback tandems in the NFL in Mike McKenzie and Al Harris. It was not until two years later, with the acquisition of CB Charles Woodson by new General Manager Ted Thompson, that a respectable starting CB tandem was once again in place. Lastly, Mike Sherman communicated poorly with WR Javon Walker - creating a bad relationship between Walker and the Packers and later forcing Ted Thompson's hand in trading Walker to the Denver Broncos for a 2nd round draft pick.
Sherman's best move in trading draft picks for existing players came in 2003, when he traded a second-round pick for Philadelphia Eagles defensive back, Al Harris and the Eagle's fourth rounder. Harris went on to become a quality starting cornerback for the Packers. Sherman's other major draft pick-for-player trade came after the 2001 season, when the Packers General Manager sent two 4th round draft picks to the New England Patriots in exchange for mercurial WR Terry Glenn. Glenn made a significant contribution during his one season with the Packers (2002), but was traded to Dallas for a 4th round draft choice at the conclusion of the 2002 season.
In 2002, Sherman traded up to grab Javon Walker in the first round. While Walker provided a great deal of talent for the team producing 157 catches and 22 touchdowns for the Packers.
It is widely held that the poor free agent and draft decisions made on Sherman's watch as General Manager is the main cause for the Packer's disastrous 4-12 record in his final season with the team, 2005.
Out of 27 draft picks made by Mike Sherman and Ron Wolf or Mike Sherman alone, only seven are ranked as at least white-chip players (rating of 5 or higher). The other 20 players could rightfully be judged as NFL failures. Only three of the 27 draft picks were rated as red-chip players or better (Javon Walker, Aaron Kampman, and Nick Barnett) while two others are good, mid-level white-chip players (Scott Wells and Hunter Hillenmeyer - now with the Chicago Bears).
[edit] 2001 Draft (Mike Sherman and Ron Wolf):
Here is an analysis of Mike Sherman and Ron Wolf's 2001 draft class. Each player is ranked on a continuum scale from 1 to 10, with 1 signifying a poor draft pick and 10 signifying a blue-chip player: (1=bust, 5=white-chip player, 8=red-chip player, 10=blue-chip player)
| Player (Position) | Round Drafted (Overall) | Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| Jamal Reynolds (DE) | 1 (10) | 1 |
| Robert Ferguson (WR) | 2 (41) | 3 |
| Bhawoh Jue (CB) | 3 (71) | 2 |
| Torrance Marshall (ILB) | 3 (72) | 3 |
| Bill Ferrario (OG) | 4 (105) | 2 |
| David Martin (WR) | 6 (198) | 4 |
[edit] 2002 Draft (Mike Sherman):
Here is an analysis of Mike Sherman's 2002 draft class. Each player is ranked on a continuum scale from 1 to 10, with 1 signifying a poor draft pick and 10 signifying a blue-chip player: (1=bust, 5=white-chip player, 8=red-chip player, 10=blue-chip player)
| Player (Position) | Round Drafted (Overall) | Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| Javon Walker (WR) | 1 (20) | 9 |
| Marques Anderson (S) | 3 (92) | 4 |
| Najeh Davenport (FB) | 4 (135) | 6 |
| Aaron Kampman (DE) | 5 (156) | 8 |
| Craig Nall (QB) | 5 (164) | 4 |
| Mike Houghton (OL) | 6 (200) | 1 |
[edit] 2003 Draft (Mike Sherman):
Here is an analysis of Mike Sherman's 2003 draft class. Each player is ranked on a continuum scale from 1 to 10, with 1 signifying a poor draft pick and 10 signifying a blue-chip player: (1=bust, 5=white-chip player, 8=red-chip player, 10=blue-chip player)
| Player (Position) | Round Drafted (Overall) | Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| Nick Barnett (LB) | 1 (29) | 8 |
| Kenny Peterson (DL) | 3 (79) | 3 |
| James Lee (DT) | 5 (147) | 1 |
| Hunter Hillenmeyer (LB) | 5 (166) | 7 |
| Brennan Curtin (OT) | 6 (212) | 2 |
| Chris Johnson (DB) | 7 (245) | 3 |
| DeAndrew Rubin (WR) | 7 (253) | 1 |
| Carl Ford (WR) | 7 (256) | 3 |
| Steve Josue (LB) | 7 (257) | 2 |
[edit] 2004 Draft (Mike Sherman):
Here is an analysis of Mike Sherman's 2004 draft class. Each player is ranked on a continuum scale from 1 to 10, with 1 signifying a poor draft pick and 10 signifying a blue-chip player: (1=bust, 5=white-chip player, 8=red-chip player, 10=blue-chip player)
| Player (Position) | Round Drafted (Overall) | Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| Ahmad Carroll (CB) | 1 (25) | 2 |
| Joey Thomas (CB) | 3 (70) | 1 |
| Donnell Washington (DT) | 3 (72) | 1 |
| B.J. Sander (P) | 3 (87) | 1 |
| Corey Williams (DT) | 6 (179) | 1 |
| Scott Wells (C) | 7 (251) | 7 |
[edit] Assistant Head Coach Houston Texans (2006-)
Sherman signed with the Houston Texans as an assistant head coach on February 15.
[edit] Coaching History
- 2007: Offensive Coordinator, Houston Texans
- 2006: Assistant Head Coach/Offense, Houston Texans
- 2005: Executive Vice President/Head Coach, Green Bay Packers
- 2001-04: Executive Vice President/General Manager/Head Coach, Green Bay Packers
- 2000: Head Coach, Green Bay Packers
- 1999: Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends, Seattle Seahawks
- 1997-98: Tight Ends/Assistant Offensive Line, Green Bay Packers
- 1995-96: Offensive Line, Texas A&M
- 1994: Offensive Line, UCLA
- 1989-93: Offensive Line, Texas A&M
- 1988: Offensive Coordinator, Holy Cross
- 1985-87: Offensive Line, Holy Cross
- 1983-84: Offensive Line, Tulane
- 1981-82: Part-Time Coach, University of Pittsburgh
[edit] References
- JSOnline
- Z-Sport's Packer Forum
- Packers' 2002 Draft
- Packers' 2003 Draft
- Packers' 2004 Draft
- Terry Glenn
- Javon Walker
- B J Sander
| Preceded by Ray Rhodes |
Green Bay Packers Head Coaches 2000–2005 |
Succeeded by Mike McCarthy |
| Green Bay Packers Head Coaches |
|---|
| Lambeau • Ronzani • Devore • McLean • Blackbourn • McLean • Lombardi • Bengtson • Devine • Starr • Gregg • Infante • Holmgren • Rhodes • Sherman • McCarthy |
