TheCardFan
Things have changed.
2000 DEBUT SEASON
Justifying Wolf's initial confidence, Sherman proceeded to put his personal stamp upon the team and the organization, the Packers winning more games against teams with winning records (six) than any other team in the league. They also:
In going 4-0 in December, were matched by only the Tennessee Titans and New York Giants, AFC Central and NFC East champions as well as the No. 1 seeds in their respective conferences for the playoffs;
Posted a 5-2 record against playoff teams;
Won their last five games in Lambeau Field, reclaiming the home-field advantage they enjoyed for most of the '90s; and
Shared the best record within the division (5-3) with Minnesota, on the heels of a sweep of the NFC Central to close the year.
In the process, at 9-7 Sherman became only the fourth head coach in team history to post a winning record in his first season on the job, joining icons Lambeau, Lombardi and Holmgren.
2001
Having solidly established his program, Sherman then proceeded to effect a three-victory improvement upon that performance in 2001, his second season, leading the Packers to as many as 12 victories for only the fifth time in the team's NFL history. Along the way, Green Bay punctuated its imposing won-lost record with some singular accomplishments, among them:
Gave NFC Central champion Chicago two of its three regular-season losses in sweeping the Packers' long-time rival;
The defense set a team record by amassing 52 sacks, led by second-year pro Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila with a team-high 13.5;
On the other side of the ball, the offensive line gave up only 22 sacks over the 16-game season, then the fewest a Packers team had allowed since 1974, when NFL teams played a 14-game schedule; and
The team's plus-30 sack ratio, between those made and those allowed, was the largest differential in its history.
2002
In building on those imposing achievements with another 12-4 record in 2002, Sherman may well have done his finest coaching job to date, demonstrating the ability to extract optimum performance from his players despite myriad injury problems. Starters were forced from the lineup a cumulative 71 times over the course of the season, chief among them offensive tackles Mark Tauscher (14 games) and Chad Clifton (seven) as well as a trio of defensive lineman: Joe Johnson (12), Vonnie Holliday (six) and Gilbert Brown (four).
Despite these substantial handicaps, Sherman deftly guided the Packers to the NFC North Division championship with record dispatch, executing the earliest clinching of a division title in team history (with four games to play) since the advent of the NFL's 16-game regular-season schedule in 1978. The Packers' earliest previous clinching(s) had come in the Super Bowl years of 1996 and 1997, when they sealed back-to-back title acquisitions with two games remaining to play in each case (Green Bay earlier had clinched with three games to play in the 14-game, 1967 season).
Sherman's coaching performance was duly noted when he was named 'Staples NFL Coach of the Year' after garnering 46.9 percent of 178,730 fan votes on nfl.com; runner-up Marty Schottenheimer of the San Diego Chargers received 11.4 percent of the votes.
In additionally sharing the league's best regular-season record with the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the NFC East champion Philadelphia Eagles while gaining the playoffs for the second year in a row, the Packers also:
Led the NFL in takeaways (45); and
Led the league in passing touchdowns (29).
The injury factor, however, ultimately and inexorably took its toll, as the Packers fell to the Atlanta Falcons and the remarkably talented Michael Vick in the opening game of the league's Wild Card playoffs, 27-7, thus ending their perfect (13-0) home-field record in the postseason (11-0 in Lambeau Field).
2003
Overcoming what only could be described as a dire situation at midseason - a 3-4 record heading into the team's bye and a seemingly-indestructible quarterback, Favre, who had a broken thumb on his throwing hand - the Packers rallied to go 7-2 down the stretch, including a pair of wins in venues that had given them great difficulty in recent years, the Vikings' Metrodome and the Buccaneers' Raymond James Stadium.
And, when archrival Minnesota dropped its season finale at Arizona on the final play of the year, by virtue of its own second-half surge Green Bay was positioned to take advantage of the Vikings' misstep, capturing a second straight NFC North Division crown with a 10-6 record.
The Packers had realized that opportunity primarily through Sherman's ability to remake his club during its week off, turning it into a run-first, pass-second group that relied as much, if not more, on running back Ahman Green than it did on future Hall of Famer Favre. As a team, Green Bay proceeded to rush for better than 190 yards in each of its next four games and, later, when opponents heavily stacked the line of scrimmage in an effort to shut down the running game, the Packers put the ball back into Favre's capable hands en route to a 4-0 December.
On the way to a fourth straight winning season, Green Bay also:
Set new single-season franchise records for yards rushing (2,558) and yards per carry (5.05), spurred by Green's 1,883-yard year that tied for the seventh best in league history;
Racked up 442 points and 5,798 net yards, totals that at the time ranked as the second highest in club record books;
Watched Favre lead the league in touchdown passes for the fourth time in his career, with 32; and
Was the only NFL team to finish in the top five in both red-zone offense (second) and red-zone defense (fifth).
The Packers subsequently dispatched the feisty Seattle Seahawks from the NFC playoffs with a dramatic, overtime victory in the Wild Card round, before themselves losing in the fifth period, at Philadelphia the following week in a Divisional contest.
2004
After starting the season off 1-4 and residing in last place within their division for the first time since 1988, the Packers clearly were behind the eight ball for a second straight year. The already-bad situation seemed to become that much worse when the team's offensive coordinator, Tom Rossley, required an emergency angioplasty to clear a blocked artery and would miss the next game.
But, as he had done the season before, Sherman was able to maintain unity and righted the ship. He gave an inspiring speech to his team on the eve of its game at Detroit Oct. 17, making a personal connection with many of his players that night. Taking over the play-calling duties the following day in Rossley's absence, Sherman unleashed an offensive explosion that would continue through the balance of the season under his direction, setting several club records in the process.
Green Bay rebounded to win nine of its last 11 regular-season games and became just the ninth team in NFL history to make the playoffs after beginning the year 1-4. Ultimately, the season came down to the Packers' Christmas Eve showdown with nemesis Minnesota inside the hostile Metrodome. Scratching and clawing to stay even with the Vikings throughout the contest, all looked to be lost in the NFC North title game when Minnesota returned an interception for a touchdown to take a 31-24 lead with only 8:18 remaining. But, as it had done all year, Sherman's team responded valiantly, scoring the game's final 10 points - a fourth-down TD, followed by a 76-yard drive in the last minute-and-a-half to set up the winning field goal as time expired - for a 34-31 triumph and its third straight division title.
En route to a third consecutive division crown for only the fourth time in team history, the Packers additionally:
Established all-time single-season records for total net yards (6,357), first downs (354), net yards passing (4,449), completions (382) and fewest sacks allowed (14), spurred in part by Sherman's play-calling starting with the sixth game;
Were the No. 1 offense in the NFC, posting 400-or-more yards in 10 games after having nine such performances over the prior three years (2001-03);
Scored five defensive touchdowns - the most since the 1997 team also had five - including scores at Detroit and vs. St. Louis that changed those games; and
Posted the team's best road record - 6-2 - in 32 years, when the 1972 club went 6-1 away from home in a 14-game season.
Having beaten Minnesota twice during the regular season, the Packers joined the long list of NFL teams who could not defeat an opponent for a third time when the two met in the postseason. The Vikings jumped to an early 17-0 lead from which Green Bay could not come back, and Minnesota captured a 31-17 victory in an NFC Wild Card playoff game at Lambeau Field.
PHILOSOPHIES, STYLE, BACKGROUND
A 27-year veteran of the coaching profession, Mike Sherman has coached at every level - high school, college and professional - over his varied career. He was associated in tutoring eight bowl teams during 16 seasons in the college ranks prior to being named to the Green Bay staff in 1997 by Holmgren. Returning as head coach, he brought with him, among other assets, an intimate knowledge of the 'West Coast' offense in which Favre has flourished over the past 13 years, becoming the National Football League's first three-time 'Most Valuable Player' in the process.
Beyond that, however, he came to his responsibilities with a highly developed agenda for returning the Packers to NFL heights following a one-year absence in 1999, when Green Bay fell short of the playoffs for the first time in seven years with an 8-8 record.
"I feel very confident in what I want to get done here," Sherman let it be known from the outset. "Right from the beginning, I wanted to be organized, structured and disciplined, both with the players and coaches. I want to generate a genuine concern with the team for each other. I think that it is important that the chemistry factor on our team is where it should be in order for us to have success.
"Whatever it is, we're going to have a plan. And I think with detailed organization, well thought out plans, and a commitment to discipline, that you can create an aura of confidence in players and coaches - and I think confidence is a necessary component of what it takes to be successful."
From his initial days as head coach - when he wrote, then fully memorized, his first speech to the team, laying out his agenda to the players in a 25-minute presentation at the team's March 2000 mini-camp - to today, there never has been a day when Sherman hasn't been fully prepared, when he hasn't known what the next five things he wanted to accomplish were.
He regularly writes and maintains a journal, referring back to it oftentimes for guidance on how he handled a past situation with his team.
Sherman also is a man who is not afraid of conflict, especially if it's an issue that adversely affects his team. He relishes the opportunity to hit problems head on, to deal with them immediately and to move forward.
Like Holmgren before him, Sherman had taken on his current coaching challenge without benefit of previous head-coaching experience at any level - but with quiet confidence. He made that explicitly clear the day he was hired to succeed Rhodes, posing and answering the key question himself.
"Is Mike Sherman, with limited NFL experience and no head coaching experience, ready to be the head football coach for one of the cornerstone franchises in the NFL," he asked rhetorically at his first news conference. "My answer to that emphatically is, yes, I am...I've been doing this for 21 years. Twenty-one years ago, I was an English teacher and an assistant coach in Stamford, Conn. At that time, I was preparing for this day."
Justifying Wolf's initial confidence, Sherman proceeded to put his personal stamp upon the team and the organization, the Packers winning more games against teams with winning records (six) than any other team in the league. They also:
In going 4-0 in December, were matched by only the Tennessee Titans and New York Giants, AFC Central and NFC East champions as well as the No. 1 seeds in their respective conferences for the playoffs;
Posted a 5-2 record against playoff teams;
Won their last five games in Lambeau Field, reclaiming the home-field advantage they enjoyed for most of the '90s; and
Shared the best record within the division (5-3) with Minnesota, on the heels of a sweep of the NFC Central to close the year.
In the process, at 9-7 Sherman became only the fourth head coach in team history to post a winning record in his first season on the job, joining icons Lambeau, Lombardi and Holmgren.
2001
Having solidly established his program, Sherman then proceeded to effect a three-victory improvement upon that performance in 2001, his second season, leading the Packers to as many as 12 victories for only the fifth time in the team's NFL history. Along the way, Green Bay punctuated its imposing won-lost record with some singular accomplishments, among them:
Gave NFC Central champion Chicago two of its three regular-season losses in sweeping the Packers' long-time rival;
The defense set a team record by amassing 52 sacks, led by second-year pro Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila with a team-high 13.5;
On the other side of the ball, the offensive line gave up only 22 sacks over the 16-game season, then the fewest a Packers team had allowed since 1974, when NFL teams played a 14-game schedule; and
The team's plus-30 sack ratio, between those made and those allowed, was the largest differential in its history.
2002
In building on those imposing achievements with another 12-4 record in 2002, Sherman may well have done his finest coaching job to date, demonstrating the ability to extract optimum performance from his players despite myriad injury problems. Starters were forced from the lineup a cumulative 71 times over the course of the season, chief among them offensive tackles Mark Tauscher (14 games) and Chad Clifton (seven) as well as a trio of defensive lineman: Joe Johnson (12), Vonnie Holliday (six) and Gilbert Brown (four).
Despite these substantial handicaps, Sherman deftly guided the Packers to the NFC North Division championship with record dispatch, executing the earliest clinching of a division title in team history (with four games to play) since the advent of the NFL's 16-game regular-season schedule in 1978. The Packers' earliest previous clinching(s) had come in the Super Bowl years of 1996 and 1997, when they sealed back-to-back title acquisitions with two games remaining to play in each case (Green Bay earlier had clinched with three games to play in the 14-game, 1967 season).
Sherman's coaching performance was duly noted when he was named 'Staples NFL Coach of the Year' after garnering 46.9 percent of 178,730 fan votes on nfl.com; runner-up Marty Schottenheimer of the San Diego Chargers received 11.4 percent of the votes.
In additionally sharing the league's best regular-season record with the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the NFC East champion Philadelphia Eagles while gaining the playoffs for the second year in a row, the Packers also:
Led the NFL in takeaways (45); and
Led the league in passing touchdowns (29).
The injury factor, however, ultimately and inexorably took its toll, as the Packers fell to the Atlanta Falcons and the remarkably talented Michael Vick in the opening game of the league's Wild Card playoffs, 27-7, thus ending their perfect (13-0) home-field record in the postseason (11-0 in Lambeau Field).
2003
Overcoming what only could be described as a dire situation at midseason - a 3-4 record heading into the team's bye and a seemingly-indestructible quarterback, Favre, who had a broken thumb on his throwing hand - the Packers rallied to go 7-2 down the stretch, including a pair of wins in venues that had given them great difficulty in recent years, the Vikings' Metrodome and the Buccaneers' Raymond James Stadium.
And, when archrival Minnesota dropped its season finale at Arizona on the final play of the year, by virtue of its own second-half surge Green Bay was positioned to take advantage of the Vikings' misstep, capturing a second straight NFC North Division crown with a 10-6 record.
The Packers had realized that opportunity primarily through Sherman's ability to remake his club during its week off, turning it into a run-first, pass-second group that relied as much, if not more, on running back Ahman Green than it did on future Hall of Famer Favre. As a team, Green Bay proceeded to rush for better than 190 yards in each of its next four games and, later, when opponents heavily stacked the line of scrimmage in an effort to shut down the running game, the Packers put the ball back into Favre's capable hands en route to a 4-0 December.
On the way to a fourth straight winning season, Green Bay also:
Set new single-season franchise records for yards rushing (2,558) and yards per carry (5.05), spurred by Green's 1,883-yard year that tied for the seventh best in league history;
Racked up 442 points and 5,798 net yards, totals that at the time ranked as the second highest in club record books;
Watched Favre lead the league in touchdown passes for the fourth time in his career, with 32; and
Was the only NFL team to finish in the top five in both red-zone offense (second) and red-zone defense (fifth).
The Packers subsequently dispatched the feisty Seattle Seahawks from the NFC playoffs with a dramatic, overtime victory in the Wild Card round, before themselves losing in the fifth period, at Philadelphia the following week in a Divisional contest.
2004
After starting the season off 1-4 and residing in last place within their division for the first time since 1988, the Packers clearly were behind the eight ball for a second straight year. The already-bad situation seemed to become that much worse when the team's offensive coordinator, Tom Rossley, required an emergency angioplasty to clear a blocked artery and would miss the next game.
But, as he had done the season before, Sherman was able to maintain unity and righted the ship. He gave an inspiring speech to his team on the eve of its game at Detroit Oct. 17, making a personal connection with many of his players that night. Taking over the play-calling duties the following day in Rossley's absence, Sherman unleashed an offensive explosion that would continue through the balance of the season under his direction, setting several club records in the process.
Green Bay rebounded to win nine of its last 11 regular-season games and became just the ninth team in NFL history to make the playoffs after beginning the year 1-4. Ultimately, the season came down to the Packers' Christmas Eve showdown with nemesis Minnesota inside the hostile Metrodome. Scratching and clawing to stay even with the Vikings throughout the contest, all looked to be lost in the NFC North title game when Minnesota returned an interception for a touchdown to take a 31-24 lead with only 8:18 remaining. But, as it had done all year, Sherman's team responded valiantly, scoring the game's final 10 points - a fourth-down TD, followed by a 76-yard drive in the last minute-and-a-half to set up the winning field goal as time expired - for a 34-31 triumph and its third straight division title.
En route to a third consecutive division crown for only the fourth time in team history, the Packers additionally:
Established all-time single-season records for total net yards (6,357), first downs (354), net yards passing (4,449), completions (382) and fewest sacks allowed (14), spurred in part by Sherman's play-calling starting with the sixth game;
Were the No. 1 offense in the NFC, posting 400-or-more yards in 10 games after having nine such performances over the prior three years (2001-03);
Scored five defensive touchdowns - the most since the 1997 team also had five - including scores at Detroit and vs. St. Louis that changed those games; and
Posted the team's best road record - 6-2 - in 32 years, when the 1972 club went 6-1 away from home in a 14-game season.
Having beaten Minnesota twice during the regular season, the Packers joined the long list of NFL teams who could not defeat an opponent for a third time when the two met in the postseason. The Vikings jumped to an early 17-0 lead from which Green Bay could not come back, and Minnesota captured a 31-17 victory in an NFC Wild Card playoff game at Lambeau Field.
PHILOSOPHIES, STYLE, BACKGROUND
A 27-year veteran of the coaching profession, Mike Sherman has coached at every level - high school, college and professional - over his varied career. He was associated in tutoring eight bowl teams during 16 seasons in the college ranks prior to being named to the Green Bay staff in 1997 by Holmgren. Returning as head coach, he brought with him, among other assets, an intimate knowledge of the 'West Coast' offense in which Favre has flourished over the past 13 years, becoming the National Football League's first three-time 'Most Valuable Player' in the process.
Beyond that, however, he came to his responsibilities with a highly developed agenda for returning the Packers to NFL heights following a one-year absence in 1999, when Green Bay fell short of the playoffs for the first time in seven years with an 8-8 record.
"I feel very confident in what I want to get done here," Sherman let it be known from the outset. "Right from the beginning, I wanted to be organized, structured and disciplined, both with the players and coaches. I want to generate a genuine concern with the team for each other. I think that it is important that the chemistry factor on our team is where it should be in order for us to have success.
"Whatever it is, we're going to have a plan. And I think with detailed organization, well thought out plans, and a commitment to discipline, that you can create an aura of confidence in players and coaches - and I think confidence is a necessary component of what it takes to be successful."
From his initial days as head coach - when he wrote, then fully memorized, his first speech to the team, laying out his agenda to the players in a 25-minute presentation at the team's March 2000 mini-camp - to today, there never has been a day when Sherman hasn't been fully prepared, when he hasn't known what the next five things he wanted to accomplish were.
He regularly writes and maintains a journal, referring back to it oftentimes for guidance on how he handled a past situation with his team.
Sherman also is a man who is not afraid of conflict, especially if it's an issue that adversely affects his team. He relishes the opportunity to hit problems head on, to deal with them immediately and to move forward.
Like Holmgren before him, Sherman had taken on his current coaching challenge without benefit of previous head-coaching experience at any level - but with quiet confidence. He made that explicitly clear the day he was hired to succeed Rhodes, posing and answering the key question himself.
"Is Mike Sherman, with limited NFL experience and no head coaching experience, ready to be the head football coach for one of the cornerstone franchises in the NFL," he asked rhetorically at his first news conference. "My answer to that emphatically is, yes, I am...I've been doing this for 21 years. Twenty-one years ago, I was an English teacher and an assistant coach in Stamford, Conn. At that time, I was preparing for this day."
