Alumni Spotlight

Bill Sheridan Class of 1977 Linebackers Coach, Detroit Lions

From the time he was in junior high at St. Raymond’s in Detroit, Bill Sheridan, DLS Class of 1977, knew he wanted to be a football coach. Bill said, “When I was 13 or 14, I thought if I could be a head coach at De La Salle or Brother Rice, I would have died and gone to heaven.” Nearly 45 years later, he has fulfilled that dream of being a football coach - and then some. He’s coached at the high school, college, and pro levels, while maintaining his ties with De La Salle and the Detroit area. About a year ago, Bill returned to Detroit, and is an assistant coach with his hometown Detroit Lions.

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The youngest of 12 children and the son of a Detroit police officer, Bill always knew he would attend De La Salle. Six of his seven older brothers are De La Salle graduates. (His four older sisters are all Regina High School graduates.) Bill is quick to praise the coaches he’s had along the way. He fondly remembers Little League (sponsored by the Detroit Parks and Recreation Department) practices and games at Wish Egan Field. “A couple of Detroit police officers, Frank Kirshner and Angelo Pellegata, were our coaches. They were phenomenal. I also had George Spencer and Bob Temerowski, a graduate of St. Ambrose, as coaches. Both George and Bob had sons who attended De La Salle.” At St. Raymond’s, Bill’s football coaches were Tom and Jack Masserang, St. Catherine’s graduates, along with Bill Kemp, a Servite graduate, and Gino Paliaroli, SJ ‘55. “Tom and Jack later coached for over a decade at Bishop Gallagher with George Sahadi.” Bill easily recalls his high school coaches. “I had Rich Dobrzynski as a coach for four years, freshman

Bill Sheridan outside of his Linebackers Classroom at the Detroit Lions Training Facility in Allen Park, MI.

and JV football, and then for varsity basketball my junior and senior years. Other coaches were John Maronto, Mike Jolly, Ray Barr, and Paul Hayner. Paul played at St. Ambrose and then at Michigan State University, and for a short time in the NFL. They were all outstanding coaches.” Bill had football offers from several colleges, including Wayne State University. “A lot of guys from the CHSL were at Wayne, but I wanted to go away from home. I visited Hillsdale, and Findlay in Ohio.” He ultimately decided on Grand Valley State University. “They seemed to really want me the most. Even if it was a sales pitch, I bought it. The head coach Jim Harkema convinced me that I was wanted. I was very lucky to be coached by him. “All these guys were wonderful coaches who were great mentors and role models. I have been very lucky and very blessed to know them. They truly affected my decision to go into coaching.” After college, Bill landed at Royal Oak Shrine, teaching in the grade school and coaching the high school football team as an assistant to head coach Jim MacDougall. “Jim was from St. Catherine’s, and coached at Shrine for 22 years. He was a legendary CHSL coach.” McDougall is now retired.

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“I really wanted to find a high school head coaching job. I got one interview at Marine City Holy Cross. Those jobs were few and far between. So I decided to return to college and see where I could go in the college ranks.”

From Graduate Assistant to the Pros

Bill got a job as a graduate assistant at the University of Michigan for the 1985 and 1986 seasons, when Jim Harbaugh was quarterback and captain of the team, under the legendary Bo Schembechler.

A sign in the Linebackers Classroom.

“Every day I drove to work and I used to pinch myself. I was actually going into the football facility and working for Bo. He was such an inspiring man. It was a privilege to be around him.” Following the ‘86 season, Bill continued his journey in the college coaching ranks, heading to Maine, Cincinnati, and then West Point. As a West Point recruiter, he got to know Paul Verska, De La Salle’s head coach since 2002, while recruiting Paul’s son Nick, the quarterback for the Ann Arbor Huron High School team. Verska was the team’s head coach from 1990-2002; Nick graduated in 1997. Bill returned to Michigan and coached linebackers for Michigan State University under Nick Saban. Then a year at the University of Notre Dame. Back to Michigan through 2004. Twenty years in the college ranks. And then came the Giants. Bill spent five years with the New York Giants, winning a Super Bowl ring in 2007. He coached linebackers for four years and was the defensive coordinator in the 2009 season. Two years with the Miami Dolphins. Another two years with Tampa. And then the Lions’ head coach Jim Caldwell called. Now the linebackers coach with the Detroit Lions, Bill and the other coaches meet daily during this off-season. “It’s not as hectic in the off-season. We work 8 - 5. Half the day is quality control. Self-analysis. We watch film, watch for trends around the league. The other half of the day, we’re doing a crash course evaluating the draft prospects. What the scouts do year-round, we’re doing in two months. We write reports for the management, giving evidence of our opinions.” That management includes Lions’ President Tom Lewand, a defensive player at Shrine during Bill’s coaching days. Bill was in the stands at Ford Field on November 28, 2014, as the Pilots played for the Division 2 State Championship. “It was great watching my alma mater. I was so happy for Paul Verska. He’s been to the finals more than once. I think the world of Paul and the job he’s done. How rewarding it must have been for him personally, and for the alums. For as long as De La Salle has been around, to finally win it. It made me very proud to be a grad.”

Returning Home

Bill and his wife Jaycine, a Dominican High School graduate, were “high school sweethearts.” Jaycine’s brother George Jabara is a DLS alumnus, Class of 1983. When Bill joined the Michigan staff in 2002, he and Jaycine bought a house in Ann Arbor, and have kept it, despite his move to the NFL a few years later. “My family moved with me every time I changed jobs. When I went to the Giants, we considered moving to New Jersey, but after a year, we took the house off the market. So I did long distance. We never thought we’d be doing it for nine years. We

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made the decision to have our four kids all graduate from the same high school. We live in Ann Arbor, but it’s the Saline School District. It’s a fantastic district. After my youngest, my daughter Natalie, started at MSU, my wife moved to Tampa with me. But it’s really great to be back home.”

Bill is proud of his three sons who are all coaching. His oldest son Joe is coaching at Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard under Mike Girskis, ‘75. Bill’s middle son Nick played at Michigan, and is a Bill Sheridan in the Detroit Lions Indoor Field at the Lions Training Facility. graduate assistant at the University of Tennessee, and his youngest son Mark, That’s part of the reason I decided to go into coaching.” who played at Albion, is a graduate assistant at Although his title is coach, Bill considers himself Purdue. a teacher. At the Lions’ Allen Park headquarters, A DLS Foundation where the team has “one of the nicest facilities in the “The Christian Brothers did a wonderful job. They NFL,” he calls the room where he meets with lineare phenomenal educators. They were very compebackers his “classroom.” He has a white board. There tent in the classroom. I was the farthest thing from are tables and chairs. He is teaching, evaluating, a model student. But the one thing you eventually helping his group improve every week. learn - hopefully while you’re there, definitely after “That’s one thing I miss a little bit as an NFL coach. you leave - is that you are held to an extremely high This is a very performance-based business. In high standard. In my mind that’s what makes a De La school and college, you have the opportunity to have Salle education what it is. a little more impact on the players. “The coaches at De La Salle gave you encouragement “I’m happy with my assistant role. I want to be a and built up your self-esteem, even in daily subtle defensive coordinator again. But if I’m an assistant ways. For them to think you had something that was coach the rest of my career, I would have had a worth developing did so much for your confidence. glorious life. I have loved going to work every day.”