Coach Sherwood has had a stellar career in the LOC. In the early days, he (rightfully) earned a reputation as a coach that knows nothing, and did not change his team, but he has now morphed into a coach that knows how to draft and not change his team - a momentous evolution.
I jest, but the early days did not bring a great deal of success for Coach Sherwood - but he was by no means bad, having posted no worse than a 6-8 record in his career - and that was on one occasion, the rest have been 7-7 or better. But truly, it is the recent years that have defined Coach Sherwood's career - a Corona Bowl appearance in 2015, followed by a Corona Bowl victory in 2016, and he currently sits in 5th for the most wins in LOC history, ahead of 2 founding teams and on the heels of a couple more - despite joining in the league's second year.
But today's nomination marks the step change in Coach Sherwood's career - or at least the highlight of the season the step change took place. 2015 was the first year that Coach Sherwood upped his draft game, and unveiled his new money ball style of drafting. It wasn't immediately apparent that this was the case, because of another step change that took place in 2015 - the league expanding to 12 teams. It was not known what impact this change would have, although we now know in hind sight that scoring on a per team basis was lower - not a surprise, given the same pool of players now having to be stretched to 2 other teams.
But despite that change, Coach Sherwood not only matched his win total from the year previous (8-6), he also exceeded his point total by over 120 points. This nomination is a large reason why - but only a part of a body of work.
It was Week 13 - IKSAN were firmly in the race for a playoff spot with a 6-6 record, and they faced a 3-9 Forge Flyers side in the well renowned Friendship Bowl. Realistically, IKSAN had to keep winning to stay alive. And boy did they. The game started on a fairly even keel, after the 6pm games on Sunday the game was tied at roughly 70 points each. But that's where IKSAN took off, absolutely steam rolling Forge Flyers to the tune of 160-64-90.44. Some great performances from Cam Newton (46.14), Richard Rodgers (yes - that Richard Rodgers from Green Bay at the time, can you believe it? 20.60), Antonio Brown (29.80), and the Broncos defence (27). This game brought IKSAN to 7-6, giving them the division title lead over Gridiron Gang on points scored - and they didn't surrender it, eventually going on to appear in Corona Bowl VII.
But this particular week holds its own special place in LOC History, not just IKSAN history. This week was the highest scoring week in a 12 team format (to date). A few have come close to the score, but none have exceeded it.
Given the boldness of Coach Sherwood's draft strategy, the walking into the unknown of a 12 team season, this is a very impressive week for any coach. Is it a hall of fame worthy week? You decide.
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