In a news conference this morning at Lambeau Field, Mike Sherman said that he doesn't know for sure why he was fired as coach of the Green Bay Packers but that he was "honored to have coached this great franchise and to be a part of its history."
He had special thanks for Packers fans. "Your love for this team has been an inspiration to me," he said. "You are the Green Bay Packers."
Sherman said general manager Ted Thompson, who fired him Monday morning at the end of a 4-12 season, did not give him any specific reasons. "I asked him for that," Sherman said, but Thompson only said it was "time to make a change."
Sherman said later in the 30-minute news conference that Thompson probably just "wanted his own guy."
"I never came into this business thinking anything is fair," Sherman said. "I've accepted this as a challenge."
Asked if he wanted to coach again, Sherman said, "Oh, yes." But he said he needed to take some time to think about his future.
Sherman said the standing ovation that players gave him before a meeting with them Monday morning was "a moment I'll never forget for the rest of my life."
He said he had not talked to Brett Favre since being fired but planned to visit him in Mississippi next month. "I told him to get the two-seated tractor out," Sherman said.
Packers to interview Chargers' Wade Phillips
Add Wade Phillips to the growing list of names general manager Thompson plans to interview for the Green Bay Packers vacant head coaching job, an NFL source said today.
Phillips, the defensive coordinator with the San Diego Chargers, has been in the NFL for 29 seasons, including head coaching jobs with the Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills and Atlanta Falcons (interim coach). He also has been defensive coordinator in Atlanta, Buffalo, Denver, Philadelphia and New Orleans.
He is the son of longtime NFL coach Bum Phillips, whom Thompson played for in Houston in the 1970s.
As reported earlier, the Packers also want to interview Eagles offensive coordinator Brad Childress; Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera; Cowboys assistant head coach Sean Payton; Browns offensive coordinator Maurice Carthon and Steelers assistants Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm.
-Tom Silverstein