FOR ALOUETTES COACH SHERMAN, IT’S ABOUT FAMILY
25-year-old son Ben was hired to fill ‘jack-of-all-trades’ role with the team
When New England head coach Bill Belichick hired his sons Steve and Brian as assistants, it’s unlikely anyone raised a fuss. After all, the Patriots have won five Super Bowls since 2002.
Likewise, in his first season as head coach of the Alouettes, Mike Sherman offers no apologies for including his 25-year-old son Ben on his staff.
“He understands me better than anybody and knows what my wants are and how I do my business. He was a perfect hire for me because he gets stuff done without me ever telling him,” said Sherman, the former coach and general manager of the Green Bay Packers. “We think alike, we walk alike and we act alike a lot of times. He was a good fit for the job.”
Ben Sherman, 25, is the second-youngest of five children. He’s officially listed as the special assistant to the head coach and a scouting analyst. He refers to himself as a jack-of-all-trades and wears many hats during a typical 11-hour day.
He draws up the practice and travel schedules and has become a fixture at the team’s workouts, carrying an omnipresent bullhorn used to bark out instructions and upcoming drills.
Indeed, he’s responsible for producing the daily practice scripts the coaches will use. According to his father, the kid’s also a fair talent evaluator who regularly studies tape.
“He’s been around football his whole life. If anybody was meant for football, it’s him. He lives and breathes it,” said Sherman, who has had a rough baptism to the Canadian Football League, his team having lost six of seven games.
“He contributes a lot to the organization. He deals with the players. He’s like a mini-me.
“When I’m busy doing something, he takes care of it. Obviously, I make the final decision, but he has a very difficult job. If I’m going to lose my temper, it’s usually directed his way. And sometimes it’s not always his fault. If he’s in the room and something happens I’m not real pleased about, unfortunately, the wrath comes down on him.”
Born in 1992 in College Station, Texas, while his father was the offensive line coach at Texas A&M, the nomadic Sherman has called that college town home three times and Green Bay twice. His travels also have taken him to Los Angeles, Seattle, Houston, Miami and Cape Cod, the family’s permanent base. His father was coaching Nauset Regional high school until 2017 when he was contacted by Montreal GM Kavis Reed.
“You just become used to (moving) and have to accept it,” said Sherman, somewhat shy and initially nervous — and certainly not as garrulous as his father or as comfortable dealing with the media.
A history major, he played centre and some tight end at St. Norbert College, a Division III school in Wisconsin, for three seasons before graduating from Endicott College in Massachusetts.
He was a high school teacher for a time, then worked as an offensive graduate assistant at the University of New Mexico while pursuing his master’s degree in sports administration.
He was figuring out what to do with the rest of his life, when his father was hired by the Als and presented him with the job offer.
While living in Green Bay, it wasn’t uncommon for Sherman, after class, to ride his bicycle three miles to the Packers’ practice facility, to mingle with the players and spend time with his father, knowing the time constraints, demands and pressure under which he worked.
“It was a pretty regular life,” he said, shrugging. “You don’t know any different. I was fortunate to be in that situation. It can be pretty tough, but we were lucky. He only has one losing season, at the end, and they moved on.
“I was always with him. I’d find a way. It’s not always the parents’ job to do everything. I was able to see that at an early age. If I didn’t go see him, I could feel bad. That would be on me. He’d let me come to practice and I took advantage of that.”
Sherman has nothing but adulation for his father, whom he refers to as loyal and honest. The two share a three-bedroom apartment close to Olympic Stadium. His father, he said, is slow and deliberate when it comes to making a decision. If the two share anything, it’s their passion for the job.
Despite what can charitably be described as a painful indoctrination to CFL life, Sherman said his father doesn’t take the game home with him.
“He’s a great father. It’s the honesty thing. He’s honest with people. He’s honest with himself, too,” Sherman said.
“It’s kind of cool to be working on something that’s bigger than yourself ... being able to work with someone who you deeply love.”
While both father and son admit things might have become tenuous had he been appointed an Als position coach, given his lack of experience, the kid nonetheless has worked hard to gain the trust and respect of the players.
He might be a conduit between them and the head coach, but the younger Sherman isn’t contemptible.
“There’s really nothing I can do except try to do the best I can,” he said. “It has its ups and downs.
“My job is to manage him.”
He understands me better than anybody and knows what my wants are and how I do my business. He was a perfect hire for me because he gets stuff done without me ever telling him.