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Having failed to land former University of Pittsburgh linebacker Marty Schottenheimer as their new field boss, the Green Bay Packers have turned instead to a onetime Panthers assistant coach to succeed Ray Rhodes.

The decision by general manager Ron Wolf came after Schottenheimer, the former Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs coach, removed his name from consideration. While the Packers' preference at the start of their search was to hire a man with previous head coaching experience, Sherman, 45, impressed Wolf in a lengthy Saturday interview.

Sherman has not been a head coach above the high school level. He will sign a five-year contract, but the last two years are believed to be at the team's option. Agent Bob LaMonte hammered out most details of the contract on Monday.

A friend of Sherman agreed he fits the disciplinarian model the Packers felt they needed after one season with Rhodes, who was fired on Jan. 2.

"People may not know much about him, but they'll find out quickly he's a guy who commands respect, and it won't hurt that he knows the lay of the land there in Green Bay," said the friend. Said Vikings defensive coordinator Foge Fazio, the head coach at Pitt when Sherman was an assistant there: "Mike is a very bright guy who knows the West Coast offense inside out. And he knows how to keep players in line, too."

Sherman has been in the NFL just three seasons, joining the Packers staff of then-coach Mike Holmgren in 1997. After two years in Green Bay, he moved to the Seahawks with Holmgren in '99. Although he held the title of coordinator with the Seahawks, it was still Holmgren who called the plays. Sherman coached for 16 seasons at the collegiate level, including stints at Pittsburgh (1981-82), Tulane (1983-84), Holy Cross (1985-88), Texas A&M (1989-93 and 1995-96) and UCLA (1994).

While officials with the Packers have insisted to SportsLine that quarterback Brett Favre would not play a role in the selection of a new coach, sources said Monday night that Sherman had his endorsement.

Wolf had privately noted to NFL friends in the past two weeks that he regretted losing former quarterbacks mentor Andy Reid, who departed the Packers after the 1998 season to become head coach in Philadelphia. Several league people said Monday night that Sherman compares favorably with Reid, but that he might be more disciplined. A management official in Seattle, though, said Monday night he barely knew Sherman and described the Packers new coach as "pretty nondescript from a personality standpoint."

There are indications that Sherman knew as early as Sunday evening he had supplanted Schottenheimer as the favorite for the job. Two league assistant coaches, including one who is unemployed, said that Sherman phoned them Sunday, said that he had a chance at an unnamed head coaching vacancy and wanted to gauge their interest in perhaps joining his staff.

Wolf and vice president of personnel Ken Herock spent almost as much time doing background checks on potential staffers in the last two weeks as they did scrutinizing head coach candidates.

The 12th winningest coach in league history, Schottenheimer topped the Green Bay wish list and was set to interview for the position early this week before talks broke off between he and Wolf. There were reports the two sides were far apart on financial considerations, but SportsLine also has learned Schottenheimer was concerned that the club wanted some input into the makeup of his staff.

The Packers had agreed to compensate the Chiefs, to whom Schottenheimer was under contract for three more years, with first- and fourth-round draft choices.