James Herrmann (born December 8, 1960) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

coach and former player. He is currently the defensive coordinator for the San Antonio Brahmas of the XFL and was recently the defensive coordinator for the

New York Guardians The Orlando Guardians are a professional American football team based in Orlando, Florida. The team was founded by Vince McMahon's Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the XFL. The Guardians played their home games at MetLif ...

of the XFL. Prior to that, he was

linebackers coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the offensive and defensive coordinators. Common ...

for the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

(NFL) and the

Bowling Green Falcons football The Bowling Green Falcons football program is the intercollegiate football team of Bowling Green State University. The team is a member of the NCAA, playing at the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly Division I-A, level; BGSU footba ...

team. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

from 1980 to 1982 and served as an assistant football coach at Michigan from 1985 to 2005, including nine years as

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

from 1997 to 2005. After the

1997 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1997 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1997 Big Ten Conference football season. In its third year under head coach Lloyd Carr, Michigan compiled a perfect 12–0 record, won the Big Ten Conferen ...

won the national championship, Herrmann received the

Frank Broyles Award The Broyles Award is an annual award given to honor the best assistant coach in college football. First awarded in 1996, it was named after former University of Arkansas men's athletic director Frank Broyles. The award is presented in Little ...

as the top assistant coach in the nation. He also served as the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The ...

' linebackers coach from 2006 to 2008. Herrmann will become the Defensive Coordinator for XFL San Antonio starting in 2023.

Early years

Herrmann was born in 1960 and raised in

Dearborn Heights, Michigan Dearborn Heights is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. With a population of 63,292 at the 2020 census., Dearborn Heights is part of the Detroit metropolitan area, and is considered a bedroom community. History Dearborn Heig ...

. He attended Divine Child High School in Dearborn. He played

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is p ...

for Divine Child football team.

Playing career

Herrmann enrolled at the

in 1979 and played

as an inside linebacker for head coach

Bo Schembechler Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler Jr. ( ; April 1, 1929 – November 17, 2006) was an American football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Miami University from 1963 to 1968 and at the University o ...

Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins in college football history. The team is known for its ...

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 Andrew J. Cannavino (born April 20, 1959) is a retired American football linebacker. He played for the University of Michigan from 1977 to 1980. He became one of the leading tacklers in Michigan history, played in the 1981 Rose Bowl and was the ...

, Paul Girgash, and Mike Boren. In three years at Michigan, Herrmann compiled 65 tackles and three pass breakups.

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. His responsibilities included linebackers and special teams. In December 1996, following the departure of

Greg Mattison Greg Mattison (born November 15, 1949) is a former American football coach, and former player. He spent most of his career in college football as a defensive coach. Mattison coached at Michigan for eleven years, at Notre Dame for seven years, ...

, Herrmann took over as Michigan's

. In December 1997, after Michigan completed an undefeated season ranked #1 in the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and br ...

, and having led the nation in total yards, scoring and pass efficiency, Herrmann won the

as the year's top assistant college football coach. 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. Criticism of Herrman grew during the 2004 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). In February 2006, Herrmann left Michigan to accept a position as linebackers coach with the

. ''

The Michigan Daily ''The Michigan Daily'' is the weekly student newspaper of the University of Michigan. Its first edition was published on September 29, 1890. The newspaper is financially and editorially independent of the University's administration and other stu ...

'' reported at the time that it was not clear whether "Herrmann chose to leave or fled before ecould be fired or demoted." Herrmann served as the linebacker coach for the

from 2006 to 2008. In January 2009, he was hired as the linebackers coach for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

. On January 14, 2016, Herrmann was hired as the linebackers coach for the

. In February 2019, he was named associate head coach and linebackers coach for

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

, but instead joined the

of the XFL as defensive coordinator.

Personal life

Herrmann is married to May Chamoun. Jim has three children: Jessica, Cory, and Timothy. May has one daughter: Christine

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herrmann, Jim 1960 births Living people American football linebackers Bowling Green Falcons football coaches Indianapolis Colts coaches Michigan Wolverines football coaches Michigan Wolverines football players New York Giants coaches New York Guardians coaches New York Jets coaches People from Hollywood, Los Angeles Players of American football from Los Angeles Sportspeople from Dearborn, Michigan Players of American football from Michigan Coaches of American football from California Coaches of American football from Michigan