Michael Scherer (American football)

Michael Scherer
Current position
TitleDefensive coordinator & linebackers coach
TeamPurdue
ConferenceBig Ten
Biographical details
Born (1993-11-15) November 15, 1993 (age 31)
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Playing career
2012–2016Missouri
Position(s)Linebacker
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2019Missouri (GA)
2020Arkansas (def. analyst)
2021–2022Arkansas (LB)
2023–2024UNLV (DC/LB)
2025–presentPurdue (DC/LB)

Michael Scherer (born November 15, 1993) is an American football coach and former linebacker, who is currently the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for Purdue University. Scherer played college football at Missouri from 2012 to 2016 for head coaches Gary Pinkel and Barry Odom. He served as the defensive coordinator for the UNLV Rebels from 2023 to 2024.

Early life and playing career

Scherer attended Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School.[1] In high school, Scherer was a standout running back as well as a linebacker.[2] Scherer played for the Missouri Tigers for four seasons between 2012–2016. In his career, he played in 38 games notching 266 tackles with 17 being for a loss, a sack, and an interception.[3]

College statistics

NCAA career statistics
Missouri Tigers
Season Tackles Interceptions
Solo Ast Cmb TfL Sck FF Int Yds Avg TD PD
2013 4 2 6 1 0.0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0
2014 35 55 90 3 0.5 0 0 0 0.0 0 4
2015 43 42 85 9 0.0 0 0 0 0.0 0 3
2016 24 28 52 3.5 0.5 0 1 19 19.0 0 3
Career[4] 106 127 233 16.5 1.0 0 1 19 19.0 0 7

Coaching career

Scherer got his first career coaching job in 2019 as a graduate assistant for his alma mater the Missouri Tigers.[5] In 2020, Scherer joined the Arkansas Razorbacks as defensive analyst for the Razorbacks.[6] After one season with the Razorbacks, Scherer was promoted in 2021 to serve as the Razorbacks linebackers coach.[7] For the 2022 Liberty Bowl, Scherer was temporarily promoted to serve as the Razorbacks interim defensive coordinator.[8] During his time at Arkansas, Scherer coached players linebackers such as Grant Morgan, Bumper Pool, Hayden Henry and Drew Sanders, where all four of them recorded seasons with 100 tackles under Scherer. Additionally, Sanders was an AP First-Team All-American.[9] In 2023, Scherer was hired by the UNLV Rebels to become the team's defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.[10]

References

  1. ^ Ashley Colley (June 10, 2011). "Linebacker Michael Scherer Commits to Mizzou". www.komu.com. KOMU 8. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  2. ^ Jonathan Duncan (September 10, 2011). "Payback: MICDS rolls to 45-20 win over John Burroughs". www.newsmagazinenetwork.com. Newsmagazine Network. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  3. ^ Farner, Keith (January 2023). "Michael Scherer, Arkansas LBs coach, reportedly makes career decision for 2023 season". Saturday Down South. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  4. ^ "Michael Scherer College Stats, School, Draft, Gamelog, Splits". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  5. ^ Yamashita, Andy (January 5, 2023). "UNLV adds defensive coordinator with deep ties to Barry Odom". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  6. ^ Seeman, Matthew (January 6, 2023). "UNLV football adds Arkansas assistant coach Mike Sherer as defensive coordinator". KSNV. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  7. ^ Schultz, Nick (December 9, 2022). "Report: Barry Odom wants to bring Arkansas LBs coach Michael Scherer to UNLV". On3.com. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  8. ^ Murphy, Tom (January 2, 2023). "Scherer headed to UNLV as defensive coordinator". The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  9. ^ Choate, Mason (January 5, 2023). "Arkansas officially loses LB coach Scherer to UNLV". Rivals.com. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  10. ^ Long, Christina (January 5, 2023). "Arkansas linebackers coach Michael Scherer joins Barry Odom at UNLV as defensive coordinator". Southwest Times-Record. Retrieved March 27, 2024.