One of the nation’s youngest coaches to hold his position, Mike Scherer was announced as UNLV’s defensive coordinator and linebackers coach on Jan. 5, 2023.
His first season at the helm saw the Rebel D help the program win a regular-season co-championship and reach a bowl game for the first time in a decade. UNLV tied for fourth in the nation with 17 interception and finished tied for 17th in the country with a turnover margin of plus-eight after forcing at least one turnover in 13 of 14 games.
Leading his linebacker room was Arkansas transfer Jackson Woodard who totaled 117 tackles en route to First Team All-Mountain West honors and being named Mountain West Defensive Newcomer of the Year by College Football Network. Right behind him in tackles with 89 was Marsel McDuffie, who won a MW Player of the Week nod and Honorable Mention All-MW.
Scherer (SHEER) came to Las Vegas fresh from helping Arkansas win the AutoZone Liberty Bowl over Kansas. As the Razorbacks linebacker coach, he served as interim defensive coordinator for head coach Sam Pittman after Odom’s departure for UNLV in early December 2022.
Scherer spent the previous two seasons as an assistant coach for the SEC school. In his two seasons overseeing the Razorback linebackers, Scherer produced sometimes stunning results from his position group. In 2022, the Hogs featured AP First Team All-American Drew Sanders, who became a Third Round NFL Draft Pick by the Denver Broncos after becoming the program’s first-ever Butkus Award finalist. In 12 games, Sanders led Arkansas in tackles (103), tackles-for-loss (13.5), sacks (9.5) and forced fumbles (3). The First Team All-SEC linebacker joined Khalil Mack of Buffalo (2013) as the only two FBS players since 2000 to post 100 or more total tackles, at least 13 TFL, nine sacks, three forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and an interception in the same season.
During his first year overseeing the position in 2021, Scherer produced one of the best linebacker corps in recent memory. Grant Morgan would win the Burlsworth Trophy and Pool led the team and ranked third in the SEC in total tackles with a career-best 125 stops. Morgan and Pool teamed up with Hayden Henry to complete a tackling trio with all three making 100-plus tackles and giving Arkansas half of the top six tacklers in the conference. Initially serving as a defensive analyst under Odom in 2020, Scherer first stepped into an on-field coaching role for a game week that fall when Odom served as head coach during Pittman’s absence due to Covid-19.
Scherer began his coaching career in 2019 as a graduate assistant at Missouri under then-head coach Odom before both moved to Fayetteville.
A native of St. Louis, Scherer played linebacker at Mizzou from 2012-16, totaling 266 tackles, 17 TFL, one sack and one interception, seeing action in 38 games over his four-year career. A knee injury limited him to seven games as a senior after posting back-to-back seasons of 90-plus tackles to rank second on the team each season.
Scherer graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business from Missouri in 2016.
SCHERER’S COACHING FILE
2023-PR UNLV – Defensive Coordinator, Linebackers
2022 Arkansas – Interim Defensive Coordinator, Linebackers
2021-22 Arkansas – Linebackers
2020 Arkansas – Defensive Analyst
2019 Missouri – Graduate Assistant
