Sherman Lewis, who won four Super Bowl championships as an assistant coach, died on Friday at 83 years old. His death was confirmed by Michigan State University, where Lewis was an All-American running back in 1963.
Lewis was the running backs coach for the San Francisco 49ers under head coach Bill Walsh for nine seasons and won Super Bowl titles in 1984, 1988 and 1989. He went on to become the offensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers on Mike Holmgren’s staff for eight seasons, winning another championship in 1996.
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Despite that success, Lewis was never hired as a head coach in the NFL. He interviewed for several openings and was endorsed for such jobs by Holmgren. At the time Lewis appeared to be a strong candidate for head-coaching positions, the NFL had not yet adopted the Rooney Rule that required teams to interview at least one minority candidate for head-coach openings. (That mandate was implemented in 2002.)
“We won Super Bowls in San Francisco and one in Green Bay,” Lewis told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in 2015. “And I got to work with some great coaches and players.”
“No question I wished I had the chance to be a head coach,” he continued. “But looking back, I did all I could. I was disappointed, but I’m not going to hang my hat on that. I had a great career and was fortunate to coach in the NFL.”
After his tenure in Green Bay, Lewis had two offensive coordinator stints with the Minnesota Vikings (from 2000-01) and Detroit Lions (2003-04). His final NFL coaching job was as an offensive assistant with the Washington Commanders in 2009.
At Michigan State, Lewis rushed for 1,566 yards and 16 touchdowns in three seasons, and was named a team captain. In addition to earning All-American honors in 1963, he finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting to Navy’s Roger Staubach and Georgia Tech’s Billy Lothridge.
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Lewis was also an accomplished track-and-field star for the Spartans, winning Big Ten championships in the long jump and 300-yard dash.
Following his collegiate career in East Lansing, Lewis played two seasons in the Canadian Football League for the Toronto Argonauts and Saskatchewan Roughriders. He also played two seasons for the New York Jets when they were in the AFL.
Before moving on to the NFL, Lewis was an assistant coach for his alma mater for 14 years. He was inducted into the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001.
