[tps_title]Loyalty & The Bart Starr Comparison[/tps_title]
In 2015, seemingly retired up in Cape Cod, Sherman suddenly agreed to become the head football coach at Nauset Regional High School, in Eastham, Mass. Did things get better for Sherman there?
I guess it depends on how you look at it.
Sherman stepped down from that position a couple weeks ago, leaving a 4-18 overall record to history. The team was on the upswing, however. After a 1-10 first season, Sherman’s Warriors were 3-8 in his second season.
The team was, however, 31-24 over the five years prior to Sherman. They made two state playoff appearances during that span running — get this — a single-wing offense.
The news of Sherman’s departure came with mention that there were two new gym teachers hired at the school and one had a background coaching football. Sherman didn’t teach at the school and we all know gym teachers are useless unless they coach a sport.
But hey, you can tell your parents you got a degree, punchy!
Anyway, this is being painted as a mutual agreement and maybe it is. Or maybe it isn’t and it’s being painted that way out of respect for Sherman.
Maybe football and coaching have passed Mike Sherman by.
I do not have that answer.
What I do know is this. Things have gone downhill for Mike Sherman since he was saddled with the general manager job in Green Bay.
And yes, I’m sure he was happy to accept the dual role and the salary that came with it. However, I think Mike Sherman is loyal. I think he’s humble.
We’ve seen evidence of this in the past.
Much like Bart Starr. When the Packers asked Starr to coach the team in 1975 he accepted, even though he later admitted he knew he wasn’t ready. Starr had spent just one season in coaching — as the Packers’ QB coach in 1972.
Coincidentally or not, 1972 was Dan Devine’s only winning season as coach of the Packers.
And after the aforementioned debacle of the Devine era in Green Bay, the Packers were looking for a savior — a return to Lombardi-era glory — and Starr was, at that time, the most popular Packer ever. He notably called the Packers’ offense on the field by himself when he was a player. Because of the last point, in theory, it wasn’t a HUGE stretch to make Starr head coach, at least from an offensive perspective.
Of course, you know the results. Starr’s teams were 52-76-3 — often great offensively, but usually a train wreck on defense. He was fired as coach following an 8-8 1983 season.
And seemingly, after one successful Packers’ era, the organization always takes a step back.