Mike Sherman

Mike Sherman
Title	Head coach
College	Texas A&M
Sport	Football
Conference	Big 12
Team record	0–0
Born	December 19 1954 (1954-12-19) (age 53)
Place of birth	Norwood, MA
Annual salary	$1,800,000
Career highlights
Overall	0–0 (NCAA) 59–43 (NFL)
Championships
NFC North Division Championship (2002, 2003, 2004)
Playing career
1974–1977	Central Connecticut State
Position	DE / OT
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1978 1979–1980 1981–1982 1983–1984 1985–1987 1988 1989–1993 1994 1995–1996 1997–1998 1999 2000–2005 2006 2007 2008–present	Stamford HS Worcester Academy Pittsburgh (GA) Tulane (OL) Holy Cross (OL) Holy Cross (OC) Texas A&M (OL) UCLA (OL) Texas A&M (OL) Green Bay Packers (TE) Seattle Seahawks (OC) Green Bay Packers Houston Texans (Asst. HC) Houston Texans (OC) Texas A&M

Michael Francis Sherman (born December 19, 1954 in Norwood, Massachusetts) is the head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies football team. Prior to coaching the Aggies, he served as the General Manager and head coach of the Green Bay Packers from the 2000–05 seasons. Sherman led the Packers to four consecutive winning seasons from 2000–04 and three divisional titles in 2002, 2003, and 2004.^[1] Before he started an NFL coaching career, Sherman served as an assistant coach at five different colleges, including Texas A&M, where he coached the offensive line for seven seasons.

Contents 1 Early life and family 2 Coaching career 2.1 Early career 2.2 Green Bay Packers 2.2.1 General Manager 2.3 Houston Texans 2.4 Texas A&M Aggies 3 Head coaching record 3.1 NFL 3.2 College 4 References 5 External links

Early life and family

Sherman was born in 1954 in Norwood, Massachusetts. Throughout the 1950s and 60s, Sherman spent his life in Hyde Park, Massachusetts, the southernmost neighborhood in Boston. His extended family members, who lived nearby, were devout Green Bay Packers fans. Sherman was also raised in Northborough, Massachusetts, where he attended Algonquin Regional High School. Though he was considered a solid player in high school, he was never a standout. Sherman earned a scholarship to play at Central Connecticut State University, where he played defensive end and offensive tackle and majored in English. 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 at Stamford High School in Connecticut in 1978 and at Worcester Academy in Massachusetts from 1979–80.^[2][3] Sherman's father worked for a pipe company in New England and retired in 1990. Both his parents live in Cape Cod, where his father still does consulting work.^[2] Sherman has been married to his wife Karen since 1982, and the two have five children, including one who was adopted.^[4]

Coaching career

Early career

Sherman started out his college coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Pittsburgh, where he was part of Jackie Sherrill's staff from 1981–82.^[5] While at Pittsburgh, Sherman wasn't able to afford an apartment; instead, he slept on a cot in Pitt Stadium.^[2] After his stay at Pittsburgh, Sherman then coached the offensive line at Tulane from 1983–84, and later moved to Holy Cross, where he coached the offensive line from 1985–87 before becoming the offensive coordinator for the 1988 season. From 1989–93, Sherman coached the Texas A&M offensive line. During the 1992–93 season, he met current Houston Texans head coach Gary Kubiak, who had coached the A&M running backs. In 1994, Sherman left Texas A&M to coach the UCLA offensive line, including current Baltimore Ravens pro bowler Jonathan 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 of 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 three Southwest Conference championships consecutively from 1991–93. Additionally, he recruited Leeland McElroy, who would become one of the Aggies' top 10 all-time leading running backs.^[6] Sherman started his professional coaching career when he was hired to be an assistant offensive line and tight ends coach for the Green Bay Packers, a position he had served for the 1997–98 seasons. After Packers head coach Mike Holmgren resigned to accept the Seattle Seahawks head coach position, Holmgren hired Sherman to become the offensive coordinator for the 1999 season.

Green Bay Packers

In his six-year head coaching career with the Packers from 2000–05, Sherman compiled a 57-39 regular season record and a 2-4 postseason record. Sherman had used the West Coast Offense offensive strategy at Green Bay.^[7] In 2000, Sherman became the head coach of the Green Bay Packers. Sherman led the Packers to five consecutive winning seasons from 2000–04. From 2002–2004, Sherman led the Packers to three consecutive NFC North Division titles. From 2000–04, Sherman compiled a 53–27 record, and a .663 winning percentage, which is the second highest in Packers history, trailing that of Vince Lombardi's, who is one of the most successful coaches in the history of football. Additionally, Green Bay and the Philadelphia Eagles were the only two teams to make the playoffs for four consecutive seasons from 2001–04. An offensive-minded coach, Sherman led the Packers to break franchise records for rushing in 2003 and passing in 2004. In 2003, Packers quarterback Brett 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 second only to the franchise's record of 456 set in the 1996 season, when the team won the Super 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. Injuries were to blame for the poor season, as the Packers lost pro bowlers Javon Walker, Bubba Franks and Ahman Green to Injured Reserved early in the season.

General Manager

Sherman succeeded Ron Wolf as General Manager of the Packers in 2001, taking on the dual role as Head Coach and General Manager. 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 (2002–04). Sherman drafted many of the core players that are amongst the Packers in the 2007 season. He drafted Nick Barnett, Aaron Kampman, Corey Williams, and Scott Wells. He also traded for cornerback Al Harris. Sherman's 1st draft pick was Javon Walker who made the Pro Bowl in 2004, was traded to the Denver Broncos by Ted Thompson in 2006. In 2005 the Packers hired Ted Thompson from the Seattle Seahawks to take over Sherman's General Manager duties, although Sherman remained the Packers' head coach.

Houston Texans

The Houston Texans hired Sherman as the assistant head coach/offense coach on February 15, 2006. On January 17, 2007, he was promoted to offensive coordinator, but still remained as assistant head coach. In the 2006 season, the Texans' regular season offense ranked 28th out of 32 NFL teams.^[8] In the 2007 season, Sherman's first year as offensive coordinator in Houston, the Texans' regular season offense improved to a ranking of 14.^[9]

Texas A&M Aggies

On November 26, 2007, three days after former Texas A&M head coach Dennis Franchione resigned, Sherman was announced as the new head coach, becoming the 28th head coach of the Texas A&M football program.^[10] Sherman was contacted after the Aggies' victory over Texas on Friday, November 23rd, and was hired after the Texans' loss to the Browns on Sunday, November 25th. The only coaching candidate interviewed for the job, Sherman signed a seven-year contract that pays a yearly salary of $1.8 million.^[11] Sherman requested that he would rather not be paid the $2 million/year that Franchione was making, insisting that he "would rather take less and go out and hire the best coordinators and coaches".^[12] Former Aggie NFL players Richmond Webb, Hunter Goodwin, and Bucky Richardson, as well as former A&M coaches R. C. Slocum and Jackie Sherrill, had approved of Sherman's hire. Additionally, the interim president of Texas A&M, Dr. Ed Davis, and the Texas A&M Board of Regents, including former A&M coach Gene Stallings, approved as well.^[13] Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre and Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy have supported the hire and expect Sherman to do a great job at A&M.^[14] Sherman chose to finish his term with the Houston Texans before working full-time as the Aggies' head coach. The Texans ended their regular season December 30, 2007. During that period, Sherman contacted A&M's orally committed recruits^[15] by telephone,^[16][12] and hired former Nebraska recruiting coordinator Tim Cassidy—who had been the recruiting coordinator at A&M from 1989–2004—to serve as the recruiting coordinator as well as the associate athletic director for football.^[17][18]

Head coaching record

NFL

Team	Year	Regular Season					Post Season
		Won	Lost	Ties	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Win %	Result
GB	2000	9	7	0	.563	3nd in NFC Central	–	–	–	–
GB	2001	12	4	0	.750	2nd in NFC Central	1	1	.500	Defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Wild Card Round. Lost to St. Louis Rams in Divisional Round
GB	2002	12	4	0	.750	1st in NFC North	0	1	.000	Lost to Atlanta Falcons in Wild Card Round
GB	2003	10	6	0	.625	1st in NFC North	1	1	.500	Defeated the Seattle Seahawks in Wild Card Round. Lost to Philadelphia Eagles in Divisional Round
GB	2004	10	6	0	.625	1st in NFC North	0	1	.000	Lost to Minnesota Vikings in Wild Card Round
GB	2005	4	12	0	.250	4th in NFC North	–	–	–	–
Total		57	39	0	.594		2	4	.333
Overall Total		59	43	0	.578

College

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing
Texas A&M Aggies (Big 12 Conference) (2008 — present)
2008	Texas A&M	0–0	0–0
Texas A&M:		0–0	0–0
Total:		0–0

References

• Zwerneman, Brent. "A&M names Sherman coach", San Antonio Express-News, 2007-11-26. Retrieved on 2007-11-26. 
• Texas A&M Athletic Department (2007-11-26). "Sherman Named Head Coach at Texas A&M". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-11-26.

External links

• Official Texas A&M bio
• Texas A&M contract
• Texas A&M Announcement Press Release - Photos and Audio

Preceded by Ray Rhodes	Green Bay Packers Head Coaches 2000–2005	Succeeded by Mike McCarthy
Preceded by Dennis Franchione	Texas A&M University Head Football Coach 2008–present	Succeeded by incumbent

•  • e Green Bay Packers Head Coaches
Lambeau • Ronzani • Blackbourn • McLean • Lombardi • Bengtson • Devine • Starr • Gregg • Infante • Holmgren • Rhodes • Sherman • McCarthy

•  • e Texas A&M Aggies Head Football Coaches
Perkins • Soule • South • Taylor • Williams • Murray • Platt • Bachman • Larson • Merriam • Moran • Harlan • Bible • Graves • Bell • Norton • Stiteler • George • Bryant • Myers • Foldberg • Stallings • Bellard • Wilson • Sherrill • Slocum • Franchione • Darnell (interim) • Sherman

•  • e Big 12 Conference head football coaches
North Division	Dan Hawkins (Colorado) • Gene Chizik (Iowa State) • Mark Mangino (Kansas) • Ron Prince (Kansas State) • Gary Pinkel (Missouri) • Bo Pelini (Nebraska)
South Division	Art Briles (Baylor) • Bob Stoops (Oklahoma) • Mike Gundy (Oklahoma State) • Mack Brown (Texas) • Mike Sherman (Texas A&M) • Mike Leach (Texas Tech)

Persondata
NAME	Sherman, Mike
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Sherman, Michael Francis
SHORT DESCRIPTION	American Football player and coach
DATE OF BIRTH	1954-12-19
PLACE OF BIRTH	Norwood, Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH