In a three-decade career that touched both the college and pro games and spanned both coasts and practically everything in between, Mike Sherman has seen the big time. He spent six seasons as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers, where he coached future Hall of Famers Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers and famously had Warren Sapp challenge him to don a certain football-related garment. Sherman then spent four seasons as the head coach at Texas A&M, coaching in opposite future Heisman Trophy winners in one of college football's most competitive conferences and in one of the game's most famed arenas.
His latest job is about as far as one can possibly get from all that.
Following his departure as the Miami Dolphins' offensive coordinator at the conclusion of the 2013 season, Sherman and his family retired to Dennis, Mass., a town of 14,000 near the center of Cape Cod, a place they'd visited annually nearly his entire career. Sherman spent the 2014 season consulting for various NFL and college teams and, as many an out-of-work coach has before him, felt the itch to get on the field again, so he put a camp together at nearby Nauset High School.
Time went by and Keith Kenyon, Nauset's athletics director, decided to step down from his post as the school's head coach. Then he turned to a former NFL and major college head coach that happened to live in town.
“I felt after Miami I couldn't put my family through another move. My wife Karen has put up with a lot in regard to my career and was happy to have unpacked her last box. We’ve been coming here almost every summer over the last 30-plus years as a family so we felt this was a natural fit for us to call Cape Cod home," Sherman told the Cape Cod Times. “It took me a while to pull the trigger. It hasn't been an easy decision because I wanted to make sure I was all 100 percent in. The kids deserve that from their coach. 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."
The unlikely revival of Sherman's career provides a nice final chapter for him - enjoying the fruits of his labor in one of America's most picturesque locales, coaching purely for the enjoyment of it - and a nice turn of fortune for Nauset's players.
“Maybe we don't have a Pro Bowl player at QB, but there is a good chance our opponent isn't defending with a Pro Bowl cornerback, either," said Sherman. "We’ll adjust to wherever our talent leads us. If we can run it, we’ll run it. If we can throw it, we’ll throw it. If we can do both, we will.”
Note from FootballScoop> The letter that Mike Sherman sent to all Texas High School coaches when he was leaving Texas A&M was pure class and an absolute must read.