Sherman Deserves Our Respect

I've been meaning for some time now to draw your attention to this excellent post over at Tundra Vision regarding Mike Sherman. Read the whole thing - it is just completely pitch-perfect in regards to what I think needs to be an honest reassessment by fans of Sherman and his tenure with the Packers. Yes, he got in way, way over his head when he was handed the G.M. job, but that's old news. And yes, he became insular and overbearing, shutting out the voices of most of the players and coaches who made up his team and staff. But the man was an amazingly tireless worker who never shied away from acknowledging a problem (unlike the current Packer administration) and he was, as C.D. points out, a good guy who came to work and did the best that he knew how. I wish Packer fans could at least acknowledge that.

I agree with C.D. that it's a shame we have to watch Mark Chumura yuck it up on stage at Lambeau Field, while Mike Sherman remains in perceived exile from the club. I'm sure this will change in time. I have no doubt that Sherman still harbours a bit of ill will himself toward Ted Thompson. The man came in and tore up Sherman's roster, letting the core of his offensive line walk in free agency, replacing them with stiffs. And I don't think anyone can honestly say that Mike Sherman didn't do just about the best any coach could have done under the circumstances in 2005. I mean, the man went through the greatest rash of injuries I have ever seen in my 30 plus years of watching the Packers, but he never, not once, used it as an excuse. The guy simply plugged in Samkon Godo and went to work. Hopefully, in time, Sherman will be extended the invitation to join the festivities at Lambeau, though I doubt very highly that invitation will ever come from the current regime.

The last thing I'll say about Sherman is that he loved, and I mean ADORED, being part of the Green Bay Packers. As a child, Sherman used to sit under his covers with a flashlight reading Vince Lombardi's 'On Football' Volumes I and II, dreaming that one day he would get to coach the way Lombardi did. Yes, his shortcomings are well documented, but I think Packer fans would be well served reading C.D.'s post and taking a moment to really reassess the way they think about Sherman.

 

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Comments (43)

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Andrew in Atlanta's picture

May 15, 2009 at 06:35 am

It's a very nice article, but he can't be serious about Robert Ferguson joining Javon Walker and Donald Driver to make up one of the best receiving corps in the league. That's just not credible. It would have been better to just say it was one of the best 1-2 punches in the league and leave Ferguson out. It's way too much of a stretch to try to support a point.
Overall, good piece and many fair points

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Buckslayernyc's picture

May 15, 2009 at 06:36 am

I am the ultimate Packer Pragmatist. I do not see the world thu green and gold glasses, I don’t wear them much, usually only when I am bashing the Viqueens. I have been a fan for almost 40 years, I still remember delivering The Milwaukee Journal thru the neighborhood the day they hired Bart Starr to coach…and the state was in love with the concept that his star would lift the Packers…but that didn’t happen, SO I was also delivering the newspaper when they fired him!

Wolf, Holmgren, and Shurmur showed what great minds can accomplish when they share a vision and divide the work appropriately. That is the secret to success in the NFL….combined with a little luck.

I like Thompson in so far as he has a good plan, is a decent to good evaluator of talent, has a good management style, and most importantly, he sticks to his plan regardless of fan or media pressures….in other words he is the perfect guy for the job as long as the Packers WIN.

I never liked Sherman as an evaluator of talent or as a manager of people. I also like McCarthy, I think he is a good play-caller, an excellent tactician, he adjusts well at halftime, and has the respect of his players, he also works hard…he is the perfect guy for the job for the foreseeable future as long as the Packers WIN. I loved Sherman’s ability to speak to a team’s heart and get them to believe in themselves, he was also second to none in the work your ass off department. In the end he was a control freak who just could not get everything done the way it needed to be done. I believe you put the right guy in the right positions and let them grow into the job and build it out the way they can according to their talents. And if you see that is not going to happen, you fire them, sooner rather than later.

That is happening in GB, and will keep happening as long as they WIN.

Bottom line….they gotta WIN, and win this year. Packers have to make the playoffs, which I think they will, as I have them going 10-6 .

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PackerBacker's picture

May 15, 2009 at 06:51 am

I agree. I think Sherman was a very good coach. I personally think that there are maybe 1 or 2 people who can handle the coach / GM combo. And even then they need to have a support staff that is second to none. It is just too much work if it going to be done correctly. I think Sherman's main failure as a coach was allowing Brett Favre to run rampant without any control. He didn't reign him in enough. BF worked best when he was in a strict, controlled environment. You only have to look at his best years under Holmgren and McCarthy to see that.

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L.A.'s picture

May 15, 2009 at 07:09 am

Thanks for the comments, Aaron. Andrew, when it comes to Ferguson, no one was a bigger critic than me. But from about 2004 until the time of his injury from Donovan Darius, he was as good as a #3 receiver in the league. He struggled to get to that point, and was never the same after the injury. But when you think of the "For Irv" MNF game, he was as flawless as any of the others.

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IronMan's picture

May 15, 2009 at 07:13 am

Bravo. If I didn't know any better I would have thought that Mike Sherman is the Anti-Christ, judging by the way some people talk about him.

Say what you want about him, but his teams won a lot more than they lost.

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Cheezer's picture

May 15, 2009 at 07:29 am

Players and talent play a greater role in the regular season. As the talent evens out in the playoffs, coaching becomes much more important. Sherman's playoff record is his downfall.
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By the way, "And, as stated before, he added four division titles to the rafters of Lambeau Field. Some will diminish that achievement by stating it was only because we were in the weakest division in the NFL. Yet, what does that say about a 6-10 team that competing in the same division as the only winless team in NFL history?" I've never been a fan of the approach to elevate yourself or your point by belittling someone else.
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All that said, I will respect Sherman for standing up to Sapp.

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PackerAaron's picture

May 15, 2009 at 07:37 am

That Sapp incident sealed the deal for me. Just a great moment.

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Jayme's picture

May 15, 2009 at 07:58 am

I think Sherman's big problem in '05 is that he ran the same offense with the scrubs that he ran with all the starters. I've stated before that the biggest task that a coach has is not coming up with a scheme, but rather adapting his scheme to the players. It seemed like he fundamentally failed to understand how to adapt his scheme to match the strengths, or at the very least, cover up the weaknesses of backups. I think this, more than the 4-12 record, is what cost him his job. Firing his defensive coordinators every year didn't help, though.

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Pack66's picture

May 15, 2009 at 07:59 am

I think Sherman sucked...but the sad part is, he was better than Ted Thompson (Mr. 31-33) that you all seem to worship....

The Packers are sad and Brett Favre is going to make you his bitch this fall when he dons the 'Purple..meh

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Pack66's picture

May 15, 2009 at 08:01 am

One more word..

SherRossley...ran the most predictable, boring offense in the NFL...

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Jayme's picture

May 15, 2009 at 08:02 am

Pack66 why do you have to bring that garbage up? Just let it die, please.

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Jayme's picture

May 15, 2009 at 08:03 am

PS, Sherman didn't fire his d. coordinator every year, just twice in consecutive years. Sorry about the misinformation but it's too late to edit that comment.

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PackerAaron's picture

May 15, 2009 at 08:14 am

Pack66 - I seem to worship Thompson? Am I worshiping him with posts titled "Thompson's Arrogance" "Thompson Blows It" and others? You never open your mouth until you know what the shot is.

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Ron La Canne's picture

May 15, 2009 at 09:09 am

To me, it was obvious that Sherman had difficulty handling both the GM and Coaching positions. Sherman had a consistent winning record for what ever reason. The 4-12 season could be blamed not only on Sherman, but TT as well. TT arrived and imediately turned a highly rated OLine into a below average line in his first year. The moves TT allowed to happen in that year are still haunting the Packers. GB has never recovered to the level Sherman had built the Oline.

Going into the 2009 season most of the key players offense or defense are still Sherman's. TT's Oline replacement strategy has not yet worked (it better this year). The last two stable lineman, Tauscher and Clifton are Sherman's guys. Tauscher is unlikely to be with GB this year and Clifton is coming off knee surgery (minor?) and just who will step in?

The Dline is mostly Sherman's doing too. Only Jolly can be credited to TT. And he may face some serious personal consequences soon.

Right now MM has a season record of 1-1-1. Sherman's record was much, much better. I believe Sherman could have had an even better record if he was more the disciplinarian. Still, his record is one of the better coaching performances in Packer history. His major drawback, he could not deliver in the playoffs. That's disappointing but it's no reason to hate him.

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WoodyG's picture

May 15, 2009 at 03:03 pm

Where is this 'Sherman-bashing' you talk of ?? Actually, I think Sherman has gotten off relatively light for the damage he inflicted in GB.
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Take note:
Torrance Marshall, Bhawoh Jue, Robert Ferguson, Jamal Reynolds, Marques Anderson, Kenny Peterson, B.J. Sander, Donnell Washington, Joey Thomas, Ahmad Carroll. All were drafted by Sherman in the first 3 rounds. (Note: Wolf helped Sherman botch his first draft)
Any of these if they were real NFL players would now be in their prime. They weren't. Thus the mighty fall record-wise in GB. And the clean-up begins.
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Who in their right mind carries 2 punters on their 53-man roster for an entire season? Only Mikey.
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Sherman is toiling in the college game now because his ineptness can easily be swept away at that level. The NFL is too scrutinized to allow an amateur to exist for too long.
Sorry, but love for Mikey, why ???

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Donald's Designated Driver's picture

May 15, 2009 at 03:08 pm

"never shied away from acknowledging a problem"
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I don't understand what this means? I don't recall Sherman ever admitting he made a mistake either as a coach or as GM. This was the man that kept two punters on the roster to cover his own ass.
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One more anecdote: in the 2000 season the Packers were down by a FG at the 2MW. He insanely dials up an onside kick. Which is recovered by the Bears. The Packers get the ball back and drive it to midfield. Ultimately the game ended on a Bubba Franks dropped pass (but it would not have but for Sherman's boneheaded call). Sherman defended his onsides decision tooth and nail, meanwhile his rookie TE was taking flack for the drop. After the season ended he finally took responsibility for his onsides kick debacle. That always left a really bad taste in my mouth: stubornly defending his own boneheadedness while his rookie TE twists in the wind.
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Anyhow, he seems like a nice guy, and he was a hard worker, but let's not go overboard here.

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wgbeethree's picture

May 15, 2009 at 03:39 pm

one of the biggest things I can't stand about the anti-TT crowd is the whole he ''let'' the olinemen go when he got here argument. the packers were 7 million dollars over the salary cap on the day he was hired. wahle was due 12 million dollars for the next season and rivera (?) was a free agent. how in the world could he have possibly retained them? it was absolutely impossible to do so because of the salary cap situation he inherited due to sherman. combined they signed contracts that year in the ballpark of 50 million dollars and somehow TT was supposed to figure a way to match that? was he supposed to be charming enough to talk them into playing for 1/10 of their market value or was he supposed to get the nfl to say nevermind the salary cap ted spend whatever you want so you can keep the guys the fans want you to? those are the only two ways I could see him being able to resign them and they were not even remotely plausible.

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WoodyG's picture

May 15, 2009 at 03:59 pm

@ Ron La Canne

Sherman built the OL at the expense of other areas, especially the skill positions. By putting a high percentage of your cap into the OL, GB suffered in other areas. (WR, DL & CB) This is how you have a good rushing attack but a so-so WR corp & a so-so defense.

The salary-cap prevents teams from having all elite units. If you had elite players across the board, you'd be over the cap. Can't be done by any NFL team. It's part of the Rozelle initiative.

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Ryeguy812's picture

May 15, 2009 at 04:17 pm

I have no opinion of Sherman one way or another but I will say that Sherman benefited from inheriting a young team with players on the O-line, RB, and QB positions coming into their prime. TT/MM came into a similar team but 5 years later. Rivera was out of football 1 year later and Wahle has bounced around as a starter/back up since then.

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sunflower's picture

May 15, 2009 at 04:19 pm

I don't hate Sherman, but people forget how bad his drafts were. yes I understand this has nothing to do with his record as a coach. A large part of the reason the Packer's roster is so young because not enough of Sherman's draft picks turned into productive starters.

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Donald's Designated Driver's picture

May 15, 2009 at 04:33 pm

wgbeethree: I'm not in the anti-TT crowd, but I definitely think he could have retained Wahle by letting Franks go. Franks was a free agent that year and Thompson gave him a healthy deal that Summer. It would have taken some cap finagling but Thompson could have kept Wahle.

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sunflower's picture

May 15, 2009 at 04:35 pm

I wanted to add there might have been so things going on that the public doesn't know about. This is all just my speculation on my part so take that for what it is.

One of the first contracts that TT extended as GM was Barnett's. I remember around that time Barnett did a radio interview and he said something about MM being easier to take too (not exact words). That might not mean anything. That is just something that just stuck in my head at the time, because remember Sherman drafted Barnett.

Now this might not have anything to do with anything. I certainly am not defending McKenize (sp) or Walker but Sherman was around during that time.

Did some of the players not have such a great relationship with Mike Sherman as a Coach? No I certainly don't think that it is a Coach's job to be BFFS with his players.

Could that have impacted on how Sherman is viewed or what had also lead to his firing. Obviously a lot goes on behind the scenes that nobody knows about.

Sherman is now infamous for letting Favre skip mini-camps/OTAs and getting away with a lot. How did some of the other players view this? Remember some of Favre's retirement speculation started after Sherman was fired.

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L.A.'s picture

May 15, 2009 at 04:48 pm

Again, Sunflower, I think many of us are missing what kind of position the dual role puts you in. You are the bad cop (I negotiate your contract) and the good cop (I control your playing time). It's a far more difficult role to play that either HC or GM separately for that reason. You have to be GOD in the eyes of your players..someone like Parcells, etc. Even Holmgren couldn't manage it. Sherman was in way over his head with the dual role, which as you can see by the comments, the GM role continues to overshadow everything he contributed as a coach.

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Ron La Canne's picture

May 15, 2009 at 05:23 pm

Sherman's Record

2000 - 9-7-0
2001 - 12-4-0
2002 - 12-4-0
2003 - 10-6-0
2004 - 10-6-0
2005 - 4-12-0
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Total 57-39-0

MM 1-1-1
TT 1-2-1

They've got a way to go before they'll match Sherman. I'm no great fan of Sherman's, but the current leadership has a whole lot to prove before they are anointed to sainthood.

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PackerAaron's picture

May 15, 2009 at 05:56 pm

Sorry Woody, guess you missed the whole "Yes, he was in over his head as a GM" bit. ;)

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DDD - His WR corps was terrible - he acknowledged it, in public, and fixed it. When he cut guys, he was the first to hold a press conference and face the press. McCarthy took almost a month to answer any questions after firing his entire defensive staff. THAT'S what the phrase is in reference to.

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wgbeethree's picture

May 15, 2009 at 06:03 pm

sunflower....TT did resign franks that year, but it was 6 months after he released wahle, to a deal worth approxamitely 4 million a year...franks was actually tendered the transition tag worth 2 million at the time of wahle getting released....no matter how much finagling he would have done he still wouldnt have been able keep wahle and not signing rivera was a good move in hindsight (he only played 30 games under the 5 year contract, got injured literally the same week he signed the contract and never played as well as he had for the packers)...grant it the franks deal didnt end up working so well either but it had no barring on wahle or rivera staying....that "extra" 2 million wasnt gonna be enough to resign them

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wgbeethree's picture

May 15, 2009 at 06:17 pm

but of course the nearly 8 million dollars used up towards the cap that year between jamal reynolds, cledius hunt, and joe johnson despite them not being on the roster sure would have come handy

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Donald's Designated Driver's picture

May 15, 2009 at 06:39 pm

wgbeethree: the timing of Frank's deal didn't really matter. The Packers still had to reserve enough money to get the Franks deal done. If they had the money in July, they would have or could have had in in March. (They cut Hunt after June 1, but that didn't result in any cap savings).
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Look here: http://tinyurl.com/qahn9r
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If you run these numbers, Wahle had a 2.6 Million cap number in the first year of his contract with Carolina. Not tendering Franks would have saved 2 Million. 600k is NOTHING to make up in cap terms. And all of this assumes that the Packers would have had to pay him as much as Carolina did. The Packers almost certainly would not have needed to.
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Keeping Wahle would not have been difficult at all.

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L.A.'s picture

May 15, 2009 at 09:57 pm

DDD, I will offer you a caveat.

I agree that Wahle was potential ale to e kept without putting us in any cap hell.

However, what a lot of us forget is that Wahle and Rivera being let go was a foregone conclusion, regardless of who was GM. Wahle, in particular, had some beefs with the Packers in terms of how he was regards (there was some photo op in which he was the only OL not included).

The issue isn't that Wahle and Rivera were let go...I really think Sherman would have done the same...it is what was done to properly replace them.

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IPBprez's picture

May 16, 2009 at 09:27 am

L.A. (hello) ... I posted my opinion over on your website, for this Article. Yet, you do come to the crux of it, here. Finding appropriate replacements for the middle of the Line has been a weakness, not only for TT, but for the Scouts, and ultimately the Assistant Coaching Staff - wish we had Larry Beightol back.
Wahle made the statement that he was NOT going to budge on any adjustment(s) to what he was due on his Contract. He was adamant about what "his family deserved" ... and if that meant he had to play elsewhere, then that's what he would do. You cannot ignore the man (player) on this note. It did have an affect on any discussions, in my book.
Others are right - the Jamal Reynolds, Joe Johnson debacles, along with the nonsense of Mike McKenzie (and even one or two of the Coaching Staff) all had something to do with how well this Team was dealing with internal issues, that ultimately reflected themselves out on the field. Again, who was it that we could have had as opposed to Ahmad Carroll?
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Mike Sherman's first two seasons benefitted from the Ron Wolf drafts. After that, it was all on him. I still say that if they were ultimately going to hand out a dual hat, then Holmgren should have gotten what "he had earned" back in 1998. I also think Ray Rhodes got screwed. But, that's different discussion.
The one thing I have heard from several sources - not just Fan Blogger Sites - is that Sherman did not have the stones, or simply preferred not to --- stand up to Favre when you just knew it was something the Gunslinger had coming. Quite a few people were "shock & awed" about Sherman putting his finger in Warren Sapp's chest. I know I was. Why wouldn't he do that to his Star QB
WoodyG and wgbeethree (both) bring good points to the discussion. We're not trying to suppress facts are we? I have heard constantly how Favre would change the play at the line and then let Sherman take the heat over it. If he got lucky, so what. If he didn't, the response was 'no comment'. You can't have it both ways. What was with the Coaching staff sending memos to the bench from the HC to the QB during games?
I sometimes wonder how well any of it would have turned out, had we suffered this Era being ALL Mike Sherman, as opposed to it being partly Ron Wolf. Also, Andrew Brandt was in there - read his latest on restructuring BF's contract in 2001 on NFP.com - and doesn't the Money Man have some responsibility for advisement to making BAD contracts with suspect players? Where was the Scout Team on those players? In part, I think the loca Packer Press has some errors to account for along the way.
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I take the side of the SherRossley comment to a greater extent. It does have merit. Mike Sherman may be one heckuva a NICE guy. Yet, he did take a pretty good team and run it into the ground. Should we not say anything about those 6 INT's in St. Louis? What about the loss of the Lambeau Mystique? How about causing the fans to walk out of Lambeau Field "in the 3rd quarter" on Monday Nite Football (against the Giants, I think it was)? How about that early loss in 2003 against AZ in 100 degree heat? Against a very poor team.... He did fire Ed Donatel for something that WAS his call on the defensive play called, resulting in the infamous 4th&26. It was Rossley that called that STOOPID pass play when the Pack did get the ball back with enough time to still seal the deal and move on. Favre just threw it straight up, as opposed to "out of bounds"..? THE HC should have beaned the guy, in front of the world, people. It's what HEAD COACHES are supposed to do.
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The flavor of saying Sherman was still better than TT is just PC chatter based on how the mainstream media talk on just about every subject. I'd prefer no one ever used that measurement statement ever again. Ron Wolf's intelligence on Team Operations is what made Sherman "look good". Although I do still question some of Wolf's tactics to this day. Left to his (Sherman's) own deliberations, it simply fell apart.
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One OTHER thing that's constantly left out (and why is that?) when it comes to MIKE SHERMAN.
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Why has Gilbert Brown been treated by Green Bay, the way he has? Has anyone heard anything of the Gravedigger being invited back to the Tundra? Did Sherman not blindside the guy at the end of 2003, by calling him into office without a heads up and then suddenly FIRE HIM?
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No - Sherman does not rank up there as one of the better coaches, when it comes to brass tacks. There was absolutely NO seriously good reason for letting #93 go at the end of that season. Gilbert still had at least two-three more seasons in him. It is what made the Defense much much worse - again, for no good reason.
If Sherman were to ever come back and even apologize - I would not accept the apology. What is this "I'm sorry" nonsense rhetoric we keep seeing people use? Is that some kind of "get out of jail free" comment? Oh, here, I guess I did stab you in the back... but, I'm sorry... there, that make it all better? I don't think so.
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We will all hold each Coach accountable for what happened under their tenure. Lombardi was known to be a TYRANT - think Jim Ringo. Others that followed (even Bart Starr, who has admitted as such) were timid and tepid at how they handled Team Operations and the Players. Holmgren came in and did screw a few things up early on. Personally, I saw no reason to change over from the 3-4. McCarthy is showing signs of his Schottenheimer-ism's, which may end his tenure at 1265 sooner than he (today) realizes. We will see.
Mike Sherman - to me - wasted five good years of a Star QB getting us to the SuperBowl, time & time again. The guys are right. regular Season is one thing. The Playoffs is where we saw not only a completely different HC, but a completely different QB, as well. It was something that should not have happened.

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sunflower's picture

May 16, 2009 at 11:31 am

I was just speculating there has to be more behind the scenes stuff that nobody knows about. Considering Sherman had a good winning record as a head Coach there has to be more too it.

I wasn't talking about resigning Wahle/Rivera. I was wandering if their was some issues between Sherman the Coach and the players.

It sounds like a lot of the Jets players weren't happy with Favre getting special treatment. Who started a lot of Favre's special treatment? Mike Sherman.

I also think the fact that Sherman was both the Coach and the GM contributed to this.

I just think there has to be something more behind the scenes that nobody knows about.

I agree that the Packers couldn't afford to sign them. I was speculating as to why Sherman might not be welcome by the current management.

I was wandering if Sherman had some behind the scenes issues with the Players that nobody knows about. That doesn't mean I think he is a bad guy or a was a bad coach.

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sunflower's picture

May 16, 2009 at 11:34 am

I wanted to add the Franks/River/Wahle post wasn't mine. I was wandering if there some behind the scenes stuff that nobody knows about. I would think there has to be because Sherman had a pretty good record as a coach.

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sunflower's picture

May 16, 2009 at 11:47 am

One of the poster's responses about Gilbert Brown is what I was talking about in my post.

I hate to make another post, but that is what I was getting at with my post.

Sherman had a pretty good record as a Coach. I think there might have been more then the record of 4 - 12 that got Sherman fired.

For example, did he mishandle his role as both a GM/Coach behind the scenes that he rubbed a lot of the players the wrong way.

A lot has come out about how the Jet's players felt about Favre getting special treatment. That started under Sherman. Now this might not have been an issue at all, but how did the other players view that.

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L.A.'s picture

May 16, 2009 at 12:30 pm

IBP, sunflower...let's put it another way.

You guy mention the Favre issue quite a bit. I have mentioned that quite a bit myself, and in fact have stated that had MM been his coach from 1999 on, we'd all be looking at a much different Favre.

But Favre isn't the team. And Favre has to take accountability for his own actions, too...not just pile it on Sherman.

The one word that Lee Remmel gave when asked to describe Mike Sherman in one word was "overachiever". That might have referred to his penchant for trying to do everything himself, or it might have referred to making do with less. Yes, some if it was his own fault because of his misses as GM, but regardless, he managed to do something four times that Ray Rhodes couldn't do and McCarthy has only done once..win the division.

McCarthy earned praise (particularly after 2007) for taking the young players and doing so much with developing them. Sherman should also get credit for developing a lot of young Wolf (and his own) talent: Green, Wahle, Tauscher, Clifton, Flanagan, Rivera, Driver, Kampman, etc.

No one is trying to make it out that Sherman is a "better GM than Thompson" or even a "better coach than McCarthy". Why keep arguing that point? I think that all we should do as Packer fans is offer Sherman respect for what he did do, which as a coach, wasn't all that bad.

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Donald's Designated Driver's picture

May 16, 2009 at 12:47 pm

"When he cut guys, he was the first to hold a press conference and face the press."
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The newspaper guys view this as a sign of coaches "living up to their responsibilities." I just don't buy into that. I just don't care one way or the other how frequently coaches call press conferences.
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I certainly don't want a coach/GM that is going to kick a man on his way out the door, so any press conference is (and SHOULD) be a bunch of "going in a different direction its not me its you" bullshit. So who really gives a shit? Answer: McGinn, Silverstein, Bedard ....

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PackerAaron's picture

May 16, 2009 at 02:09 pm

Addendum to your answer: And almost every other Packer fan.
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Look, you be as jaded as you want. But there's a reason people tune into press conferences even though they know nothing of substance will be said. There's a reason people read every puff piece during offseason and training camp. People care. You don't. Got it.

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Chico's picture

May 16, 2009 at 03:39 pm

I think Sherman's greatest contributions to the Packers were the football-shaped locker room and the installment of the strip of the old Packers'tunnel floor (from the Lombardi era) in the new tunnel (leading from the locker room to the field).

Maybe when he gets fired as the coach of Texas A&M he will pursue a career as an interior designer.

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Donald's Designated Driver's picture

May 16, 2009 at 08:53 pm

PA: You **really** think the average Packer fan give a flying crap that McCarthy didn't immediately hold a press conference after firing his defensive staff? I have never heard a single person complain except for reporters and the occasional blogger who parrots what all the reporters are whining about. To the typical fan: it does not matter (like, at all).

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jon's picture

May 16, 2009 at 10:04 pm

Aaron, I totally agree with you that Sherman was a good guy and a good coach, overwhelmed with both the Coach and GM job... now how about this to ponder... if the Packers falter this year, I can see the return of Mike Holmgren after his year off.. as General Manager.. the entire state of Wisconsin would go wild.

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Chico's picture

May 16, 2009 at 10:50 pm

"if the Packers falter this year, I can see the return of Mike Holmgren after his year off.. as General Manager.. the entire state of Wisconsin would go wild."

Why? Because he was such a stellar GM in Seattle? LOL

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Sunflower's picture

May 17, 2009 at 04:22 pm

I know Favre isn't the team that's my point. It makes you wander if some of the player's weren't fans of Shermans. The players on the Jets didn't like Favre getting special treatment. I would assume that a few Packers players might have felt the same way.

It makes you wander if it was more a lot more then Sherman's Win and Loss record that got him fired.

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Cheezer's picture

May 18, 2009 at 01:34 pm

Ron La Canne

Is your goal to win the division or is it to win playoff games?
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You fail to cite Sherman's postseason record in that comparison. As I stated earlier, coaching becomes more important in the post season. Sherman's record?
2000 - 0-0
2001 - 1-1
2002 - 0-1 (1st ever Packer home playoff loss)
2003 - 1-1 (4th and 26)
2004 - 0-1 (another home playoff loss (Vikings))
2005 - 0-0

2-4 in six years. With three of the most embarrassing playoff losses in recent Packer history.

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Also as mentioned earlier (by others), he left the team in salary cap hell.

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Mr. Optimistic's picture

May 18, 2009 at 08:34 pm

Shermie had his shortcoming, and most folks here can easily list them off. I agree that the guy didn't have what it takes to get a team to through the playoffs. 4th & 26 and all that. Sure. But he did get the team through the season fairly successfully after the annual 0-4 start. At least he could do that.

Some guys are good on game day, some guys are better in the regular season than the playoffs, some guys are better motivators... everyone has their strengths. Shermie had a few. They weren't win-the-Superbowl qualities, but they were there.

It's not clear to me that the current Great Helmsmen are really that much better than Shermie. It hasn't worked out in a replace-Doug-Collins-with-Phil-Jackson kinda way.

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