Four-Time Super Bowl Winning Assistant Sherman Lewis Passes Away At 83

The football world lost a great player and a great coach this week as former Michigan State star and four-time Super Bowl champion Sherman Lewis passed away.

Lewis passed away on Friday at the age of 83. Tributes began pouring in for him on Saturday, first and foremost by his alma mater, Michigan State.

Lewis ranks among the greatest players in school history, playing for the team from 1960 to 1963 and finishing third in the 1963 Heisman Trophy voting as a running back. He was a three-time All-Big Ten selection and a consensus All-American in 1963. He would go on to play pro football for four years, two of which were with the New York Jets.

"We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Sherman Lewis. Lewis, a first-team All-American in 1963, served as an assistant coach at MSU before a decorated NFL coaching career that included four Super Bowl titles. We send our deepest condolences to the Lewis family," the Spartans said in a statement.

A legend on the sidelines

As good as Lewis was as a player, he went on to become one of the best assistant coaches in football for several decades after he hung up his cleats. From 1969 to 1982 he worked as an assistant for his alma mater, but when Bill Walsh hired him as his running backs coach in 1983 and tasked him with turning a young Roger Craig into a star, Lewis' career really took off.

Lewis served as Craig's running backs coach for the entirety of his career in San Francisco, winning three Super Bowls between 1983 and 1990. He then spent one year as the 49ers' wide receivers coach, working with the great Jerry Rice, before getting hired by the Green Bay Packers in 1992.

Lewis would spend the rest of the decade as the Packers offensive coordinator, working alongside Brett Favre and Mike Holmgren. He won a fourth Super Bowl in 1996 and reached a fifth in 1997.

Despite the immense success he had working alongside future Hall of Famers like Craig, Favre, Rice and Sterling Sharpe, NFL teams never interviewed him for head coaching jobs. He would spent two years as offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings (2000-01), Detroit Lions (2003-04) and finally an offensive consultant for the Washington Redskins (2009) before calling it a career.

Our hearts go out to Coach Lewis' family and loved ones.

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This story was originally published May 16, 2026 at 6:20 PM.