Background and career
Michael Francis Sherman (born December 19, 1954) is an American football coach and former player. He was the head coach of the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL) from 2000 to 2005. Sherman led the Packers to five consecutive winning seasons from 2000 to 2004 and three divisional titles in 2002, 2003, and 2004, but never advanced past the divisional round of the playoffs. He was also the head football coach at Texas A&M University from 2008 to 2011. He has also been a coach in the NFL for the Seattle Seahawks, Houston Texans and Miami 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 the offensive 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.
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. 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 devout Green Bay Packers fans and have dutifully followed Sherman's career. Sherman was also raised in Northborough, Massachusetts, where he attended Algonquin Regional High School, playing for the football team. Sherman earned a scholarship to play at Central Connecticut State University, where he played defensive end and offensive tackle. He 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 to 1980. 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 of Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor, who is married to his oldest daughter. Sherman and his family reside on Cape 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 the University of Pittsburgh, where he was part of Jackie Sherrill's staff from 1981 to 1982. While at Pittsburgh, Sherman wasn't able to afford an apartment; instead, he slept on a cot in Pitt Stadium. After his stay at Pittsburgh, Sherman then coached the offensive line at Tulane from 1983 to 1984, and later moved to Holy Cross, where he coached the offensive line from 1985 to 1987 before becoming the offensive coordinator for the 1988 season. From 1989 to 1993, Sherman coached the Texas A&M offensive line. During the 1992–93 season, he met retired 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, which included former 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 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 three Southwest Conference championships consecutively from 1991 to 1993. Additionally, he recruited Leeland McElroy, who would become one of the Aggies' top 10 all-time leading running backs. On December 20, 1996, A&M head coach R. C. Slocum promoted Sherman to offensive coordinator to replace dismissed Steve Ensminger. Months later, Sherman resigned to start his professional coaching career as the assistant offensive line and tight ends coach for the Green 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." He served the position 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.
In 2000, Sherman became the head coach of the Green 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 consecutive NFC 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 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 to 2004. 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 the fourth most in franchise history (560 in 2011, 461 in 2009, 456 in 1996, 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 — Green Bay's first losing record since the 1991 season (it was also Sherman's only losing season during his Packers tenure). The Packers had lost pro bowlers Javon Walker, Bubba Franks and Ahman Green to injured reserve early in the season. 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 the West Coast offense at Green Bay.
Sherman succeeded Ron Wolf as general 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 the 2001 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 drafted Nick 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 was Javon Walker in 2002, who made the Pro Bowl in 2004, and was traded to the Denver Broncos 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 for one more season.
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 following the departure of Troy Calhoun, who left the Texans to take the head coaching job at Air Force, and Sherman retained his role as assistant head coach. In the 2006 season, the Texans' regular season offense ranked 28th out of 32 NFL teams. In the 2007 season, Sherman's first year as the offensive coordinator, the Texans' regular season offense improved to a ranking of 14. The Texans finished the 2006 season with a 6–10 record. In 2007, they finished with an 8–8 record.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
