Former Packers HC Sherman lands new gig ... in high school ranks

By foxsports
Published

Mike Sherman has served as a sideline general in games with seriously high stakes, like a pair of NFC divisional round playoff games and the Cotton Bowl.

Next season, he'll be expected to walk away victorious in the "Chowder Bowl."

Believe it or not, Sherman, the well-traveled former head coach of the Green Bay Packers and Texas A&M Aggies, is taking his talents to the high school ranks, as the new head man at Nauset Regional High School in North Eastham, Mass. Sherman was introduced as Nauset's new coach Wednesday.

And no, this is not a move made of desperation, from a football coach that has hit rock bottom.

Sherman, 60, had other professional opportunities this offseason, but the native of Norwood, Mass., has always longed for the purity of the high school game. The football lifer -- who led the Packers to a 57-39 record and three NFC North titles from 2000-05 -- has an expansive resume, but he's never been a high school head coach.

Until now.

"I've loved coaching in the NFL and college for the last 33 years, but I am definitely looking forward to working with the kids at Nauset," Sherman told The Cape Cod Times. ". . . I'm excited to be their coach."

Nauset High has utilized an old-school, Knute Rockne-style single-wing offense in recent years. Sherman, however, plans to air it out, with a spread-style attack. And he knows he has to get to work developing the Warriors' aerial attack, if Nauset plans to win games like its annual Thanksgiving "Chowder Bowl" versus rival Dennis-Yarmouth.

Regardless, Sherman sounds re-energized these days.

"I have always admired high school coaches who give their time to their players," Sherman noted. "They have a chance to impact young lives. That is exciting and I'm looking forward to having an effect on these kids' lives."

Sherman said he appreciates the lack of egos he's surrounded by at the high school level. That's a big change for Sherman, who was let go as the Miami Dolphins' offensive coordinator following the 2013 campaign.

The Sherman family has moved 11 times during Mike's professional career. But the family patriarch finally feels completely at home in the Cape Cod area, where he's spent the past 30-plus summers fishing.

"I felt after Miami I couldn't put my family through another move," said Sherman, who now lives in West Dennis, Mass. "My wife . . . was happy to have unpacked her last box.

"We felt this was a natural fit for us to call Cape Cod home."