Jim Herrmann

{{Short description|American football player and coach (born 1960)}}

{{Infobox NFL biography

| name = Jim Herrmann

| image =

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption =

| current_team = Raiders Tirol

| position = Head coach

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1960|12|8|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| high_school = Divine Child
(Dearborn, Michigan)

| college = Michigan

| pastcoaching =

Michigan (1985–1996)
Assistant
Michigan (1997–2005)
Defensive coordinator
New York Jets ({{nfly|2006}}–{{nfly|2008}})
Linebackers coach
New York Giants ({{nfly|2009}}–{{nfly|2015}})
Linebackers coach
Indianapolis Colts ({{nfly|2016}}–{{nfly|2017}})
Linebackers coach
Bowling Green (2019)
Associate head coach & linebackers coach
New York Guardians (2020)
Defensive coordinator
Lazio Ducks (2021–2022)
Associate head coach & linebackers coach
San Antonio Brahmas ({{XFL Year|2023}})
Defensive coordinator
Raiders Tirol (2024-present)
Head coach

| highlights =

Super Bowl champion (XLVI)
National champion (1997)

| coachregrecord =

| coachplayoffrecord =

| coachrecord =

| pfrcoach =

}}

James Herrmann (born December 8, 1960) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently head coach of the Raiders Tirol in the European League of Football.{{cite web | url=https://www.raiders.at/football/super-bowl-champion-wird-neuer-head-coach-der-raiders-tirol | title=Super Bowl Champion wird neuer Head Coach der RAIDERS Tirol | date=October 16, 2023 }} Prior to that, he was linebackers coach for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL) and the Bowling Green Falcons football team. He played college football at the University of Michigan from 1980 to 1982 and served as an assistant football coach at Michigan from 1985 to 2005, including nine years as defensive coordinator from 1997 to 2005. After the 1997 Michigan Wolverines football team won the national championship, Herrmann received the Frank Broyles Award as the top assistant coach in the nation. He also served as the New York Jets' linebackers coach from 2006 to 2008. He was Defensive Coordinator for the New York Guardians and for the San Antonio Brahmas of the XFL.

Early life

Herrmann was born in 1960 and raised in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. He attended Divine Child High School in Dearborn.{{cite web|title=All-Time Football Roster Database|publisher=University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library|access-date=April 1, 2015|url=https://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/rosters/football.php}} He played defensive end for Divine Child football team.{{cite news|title=Michigan Lands Blue Chippers|newspaper=Ludington Daily News|date=February 22, 1979|page=9|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=110&dat=19790221&id=N3UvAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YtwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5586,4097404&hl=en}}

Playing career

Herrmann enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1979 and played college football as an inside linebacker for head coach Bo Schembechler's Michigan Wolverines football teams from 1980 to 1982. He started one game at inside linebacker for the 1980 Michigan team, but was otherwise a backup to Andy Cannavino, Paul Girgash, and Mike Boren.{{cite web|title=1980 Football Team|publisher=University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library|access-date=March 30, 2015|url=https://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/fbteam/1980fbt.htm}}{{cite web|title=1981 Football Team|publisher=University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library|access-date=March 30, 2015|url=https://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/fbteam/1981fbt.htm}}{{cite web|title=1982 Football Team|publisher=University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library|access-date=March 30, 2015|url=https://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/fbteam/1982fbt.htm}} In three years at Michigan, Herrmann compiled 65 tackles and three pass breakups.{{cite web|title=Michigan Football Statistic Archive Query Page |publisher=University of Michigan |access-date=March 31, 2015 |url=http://stats.ath.umich.edu/football/footstart.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071112175906/http://stats.ath.umich.edu/football/footstart.php |archive-date=November 12, 2007 }}(to retrieve career statistics, enter "herrmann" in the box for the player's last name)

Coaching career

In 1985, Herrmann returned to the University of Michigan as an assistant football coach. He was promoted to the status of a full-time assistant coach at age 29 in December 1989.{{cite news|title=No compromise in Bo's discipline|newspaper=Toledo Blade|date=December 31, 1989|page=B2|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19891231&id=jUtQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AQ4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=4823,5178348&hl=en}} His responsibilities included linebackers and special teams. In December 1996, following the departure of Greg Mattison, Herrmann took over as Michigan's defensive coordinator.{{cite news|title=Herrmann new defensive coordinator at Michigan|newspaper=Reading Eagle|date=December 18, 1996|page=D3|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19961218&id=xoBVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Cz8NAAAAIBAJ&pg=4973,704675&hl=en}} In December 1997, after Michigan completed an undefeated season ranked #1 in the AP Poll,{{cite web|title=1997 Football Team|publisher=University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library|access-date=April 1, 2015|url=https://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/fbteam/1997fbt.htm}} and having led the nation in total yards, scoring and pass efficiency,{{cite web|title = Jim Herrmann Bio|publisher = New York Giants|access-date = April 1, 2015|url = http://www.giants.com/team/coaches/Jim-Herrmann/a612552b-a39a-45af-a2ee-cde0a12b0657}} Herrmann won the Frank Broyles Award as the year's top assistant college football coach.{{cite news|title=Michigan's Herrmann named top assistant|newspaper=Kingman Daily Miner|date=December 11, 1997 |page=6|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=932&dat=19971211&id=MLxaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=h1IDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2919,725749&hl=en}}{{cite web|title=The Broyles Award |publisher=The Rotary Club of Little Rock |url=http://www.littlerockrotary.org/section.asp?secID=3 |access-date=April 12, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709210049/http://www.littlerockrotary.org/section.asp?secID=3 |archive-date=July 9, 2011 }}

In 2004, the Michigan defense gave up 279 points (23.2 points per game), including 75 points in losses to Ohio State and Texas in the final two games.{{cite web|title=2004 Football Team|publisher=University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library|access-date=April 1, 2015|url=https://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/fbteam/2004fbt.htm}} Criticism of Herrman grew during the 2005 season and became even more heated as Michigan lost five games, compiled its worst record in 21 years, and gave up 244 points in 2005 (20.3 points per game).{{cite web|title=2004 Football Team|publisher=University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library|access-date=April 1, 2015|url=https://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/fbteam/2004fbt.htm}}{{cite news|title=Herrmann takes job with the Jets|newspaper=The Michigan Daily|date=February 13, 2006|url=http://www.michigandaily.com/content/herrmann-takes-job-jets}}{{cite web|title=Jim Herrmann's Head|publisher=M Victors|work=mvictors.com|date=November 10, 2006|url=http://mvictors.com/jim-herrmanns-head/}}("Herrmann steered the M defense into a state of mediocrity after years of adjustments and tweaks ...") In February 2006, Herrmann left Michigan to accept a position as linebackers coach with the New York Jets.{{cite news|title=UM's Carr gets better coordinated|newspaper=Toledo Blade|date=February 14, 2006|page=C1|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=20060214&id=xXFPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=aAQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6168,3863267&hl=en}} The Michigan Daily reported at the time that it was not clear whether "Herrmann chose to leave or fled before [he] could be fired or demoted."{{cite news|title=Changes on Carr's staff anything but trivial|newspaper=The Michigan Daily|date=February 13, 2006|page=3B|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2706&dat=20060213&id=pP1JAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Nx4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=1265,1465635&hl=en}}

Herrmann served as the linebacker coach for the New York Jets from 2006 to 2008. In January 2009, he was hired as the linebackers coach for the New York Giants.{{cite web|title=Giants hire ex-Jets assistant Herrmann as linebackers coach|publisher=National Football League|work=NFL.com|date=January 22, 2009|access-date=April 1, 2015|url=http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d80e4aeab/article/giants-hire-exjets-assistant-herrmann-as-linebackers-coach|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402160123/http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d80e4aeab/article/giants-hire-exjets-assistant-herrmann-as-linebackers-coach|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 2, 2015}} On January 14, 2016, Herrmann was hired as the linebackers coach for the Indianapolis Colts.

In February 2019, he was named associate head coach and linebackers coach for Bowling Green,{{Cite web |date=February 19, 2019 |title=Herrmann Tabbed To Coach Linebackers; VanGorder Named Defensive Coordinator |url=https://bgsufalcons.com/news/2019/2/19/football-herrmann-tabbed-to-coach-linebackers-vangorder-named-defensive-coordinator |access-date=2021-03-29 |website=Bowling Green State University Athletics |language=en}} but instead joined the New York Guardians of the XFL as defensive coordinator.{{cite web|url=https://www.xfl.com/en-US/articles/the-new-york-guardians-are-on-duty-in-february-2020|title=The New York Guardians are #OnDuty in February 2020|work=XFL|date=September 20, 2019|access-date=October 14, 2019}}

Herrmann was officially hired by the San Antonio Brahmas on September 13, 2022{{Cite web |title=XFL Finalizes Coaching and Football Operations Staffs for All Eight Teams |url=https://www.xfl.com/xfl-latest-news/xfl-finalizes-coaching-and-football-operations-staffs-for-all-eight-teams |access-date=2022-12-30 |website=www.xfl.com |language=en}}