Sherman was hired by the Giants’ coach, Steve Owen, in 1949 to convert Conerly, a former tailback at Mississippi, to the T-formation.

After serving as the Giants’ backfield coach and then head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Canada, Sherman was named the Giants’ offensive coach in 1959, replacing Vince Lombardi, who had become the Packers’ coach and general manager. When Jim Lee Howell retired as the Giants’ head coach after the 1960 season, Sherman succeeded him.

Sherman inherited an aging team that was not considered a contender, and he was the Giants’ second choice for the job; he was hired only after the owner, Wellington Mara, could not pry Lombardi from the Packers. But Sherman was an instant success as the Giants bolstered their offense with trades bringing in Tittle, Shofner and tight end Joe Walton.

Sherman’s teams lost only eight regular-season games on the way to Eastern Conference titles from 1961 to 1963. Sherman was voted the N.F.L. coach of the year in his first two seasons in balloting by sportswriters and broadcasters.

But the Giants plunged to a 2-10-2 record in 1964. The fans at Yankee Stadium, who had been chanting “Dee-fense, Dee-fense,” began to sing “Goodbye Allie” to protest the trade of Huff, a hugely popular middle linebacker, and the outstanding defensive tackle Dick Modzelewski before the season.

Sherman would never again have a winning team, and in January 1969, the New York Jets took over the local spotlight long enjoyed by the Giants when Joe Namath engineered their stunning upset of the Baltimore Colts in the Super Bowl. In August of that year, the Jets whipped the Giants, 37-14, in an exhibition game, the first meeting between the teams, and the Giants went on to lose all five preseason games that summer. A week before the 1969 regular season began, Sherman was fired and replaced by Webster, the former star running back who had been one of his assistant coaches.

Sherman left with a career record of 57-51-4 and five years remaining on his 10-year contract. He never again coached football, but he was part of a group that made an unsuccessful bid to buy the Jets in 1970. He became an executive with Warner Communications, oversaw marketing for Warner’s New York Cosmos soccer team, worked as a pro football studio analyst for ESPN and served as president of the New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation from 1994 to 1997.