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University of Minnesota Athletics
Blog: Former Gopher Sherels Joins Kill's Staff
2/16/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
During Mike Sherels' career as a middle linebacker for the University of Minnesota, he was known for hard work, persistence, determination and being in the right place at the right time. A little more than three years after his playing career ended, Sherels can now thank those same attributes for having a foot in the door of collegiate coaching.
Sherels joined the staff of new Gopher head coach Jerry Kill in January. Officially, Sherels is an intern, but his role is as a special assistant to the head coach. Kill said Sherels' determination impressed him enough to create a position for him.
"He was very adamant that he wanted to be here as a part of our staff," Kill said. "Mike approached me the first week I was here. In fact, he was one of the first people I met here at Minnesota. He really showed me that he wanted an opportunity to get into coaching at the collegiate level."
Sherels did indeed want to get into collegiate coaching. But he very much wanted to do it at his alma mater.
"I've known that I wanted to be involved in collegiate football coaching here since I was probably a sophomore," Sherels said. "It had always been an interest of mine. I considered myself a student of the game. I enjoy learning and being around football. Since I left, it has been an effort to get back here. I've been angling to try to get on staff here since I left and really since my brother (Marcus) left. For the past few years, I've been trying to be visible around here. I let anybody know who would listen that this is a goal and a passion of mine. I feel like I have some things to add here. I'm very passionate about the U., obviously."
Sherels played under then-defensive coordinator Everett Withers during his senior season. Withers is not surprised that Sherels has chosen coaching and being on a college football staff as his current career path.
"Mike was a very good student of the game," Withers, who is now the defensive coordinator at North Carolina, said. "He used every bit of ability he had to be a leader on our defense. He was passionate about the game and he loved the nuances of football, how to prepare for each opponent and how to put together a game plan. Because of the way he studied the game, I thought he would pursue a job in the coaching profession."
It was probably also beneficial for Sherels that Coach Kill saw numerous parallels in the circumstances that he faced when he was first looking to break into collegiate coaching.
As a player, Coach Kill began his career as a walk-on and emerged to become a captain. Sherels came to the Gophers as a walk-on and ended up as a two-time captain (2006 and 2007). Coach Kill started his career at the high school level. Sherels has been coaching at Prior Lake for the past three years. Coach Kill took a low-paying, low-level position to get his foot in the door in collegiate coaching. Sherels has now done the same.
"Mike's situation was very similar to my deal," Kill said. "Mike has a lot of passion for this. I told him if he wanted to get into college football, he was going to have to work his way up and he has made that commitment. That shows how much he wants to be here. He's done an outstanding job so far.
"He's a hard-working guy," Kill continued. "The guys who make the best coaches and players ... it's what's inside. It isn't just talent. It's how you use that talent. Mike is the kind of guy who gives you every ounce of what's inside him every day. Those are the kind of people I want to be around."
Sherels' duties include items such as setting up and monitoring training tables, helping out in recruiting, mentoring student-athletes, class checks and anything else Coach Kill can put on his table to give him a good look at the less-visible aspects of what it takes to run a major-college football program. Sherels is appreciative of the experience.
"I've been learning a lot about the things behind the scenes that I didn't get to experience as a player," Sherels said. "I could not be more excited."
As an added bonus, Sherels is now working just across the street from his wife Emily, who works for Tubby Smith in the basketball office.
"Working the hours that I'm working now, it helps to be able to see her," Sherels said with a smile.
During his career, Sherels started 30 games for the Golden Gophers. He recorded 219 total tackles during his four years donning the Maroon and Gold. He is a native of Rochester and a graduate of John Marshall High School. As a senior, he was honored with the Neil Fredenburg Award for Courage and Love of the Game. As a junior, he was presented with the Carl Eller Award as the team's most outstanding defensive player and the Paul Giel Award for Unselfishness and Most Concern About the University of Minnesota.
-By Andy Seeley, Associate Director of Athletic Communications
