Walk-on CB Michael 'Dirty Mike' Sherwood vying for time

AUBURN – Michael Sherwood has had the same nickname dating back to his ninth grade season at Creekside High School outside Atlanta: Dirty Mike.

If he remembers the origin of the moniker, Sherwood isn't letting on, but it's followed him to Auburn thanks for former Creekside teammate and fellow cornerback Josh Holsey, who couldn't help but share it with all the secondary.

"It just stuck," Sherwood said.

Perhaps it was a moniker earned because Sherwood, who led Creekside defensive backs in tackles as a senior before walking on at Auburn, was covered in mud one day at practice, or he liked Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry, or because the 5-foot-8 168 pound corner was on the end of a sordid and sophomoric joke tossed around the locker room, or it could have been as simple as he had an unlaundered sock one day. When you're a freshman in high school and now a walk-on at Auburn, your opportunities for rebuttal and context are severely limited.

No matter the derivation, Sherwood has embraced it and shown he's willing to get his hands, well, dirty, and if anything it's added to some of his newfound mystique.

With T.J. Davis tearing his ACL early in spring practice and Jonathan Jones requiring foot surgery before A-Day, Sherwood got a lot of reps all spring, which he capped off with a game-high seven tackles while starting opposite Holsey with the first-team defense in last week's spring game.

"The coaches put me in position and I just want to capitalize on every opportunity I get," Sherwood said. "They've been giving me a lot of opportunities this year and I just want to capitalize on it."

Sherwood's production, with six tackles coming during the first half, was due in part to skill but also because he was regularly targeted.

Sean White (15 for 19 for 109 yards) completed five of six passes thrown to the receiver Sherwood was defending for 51 yards, including a 31-yard bomb to 6-foot-2 Myron Burton, who caught the ball behind Sherwood's back late in the half, setting up Roc Thomas' second score of the game.

"He got some strong hands," Sherwood said. "I saw it. He just made a good play, that's all. I tried to bat it from him, but I was on the ground."

After a solid spring Dirty Mike could be telling opposing offenses to go ahead, make his day, in the fall, when he would be most likely be called upon at nickel or dime.

"He works hard. He's a very dependable player as far as his assignments are concerned," defensive coordinator Will Muschamp said. "He's a physical player. A tough young man that does what he's coached to do."

If there's one quality on the field that sticks out about Sherwood it's his toughness. Teammates lauded his hitting all spring, with linebacker Cassanova McKinzy raving about a "really good hit" during the second scrimmage.

"You'd think Dirty Mike is like 6-1, 195 when he out there playing," safety Tray Matthews said.

Muschamp is still searching for cornerbacks he can count on in the fall, signaling out only Holsey and Jones as worth of praise after spring practice and expects Sherwood to remain in the conversation even with three freshman set to join the group over the summer.

"Those guys will help us. They'll play," Muschamp said. "I don't care if they're a walk-on, a scholarship player, an eight-star or a two-star."

Sherwood recognizes he'll have an uphill climb on the depth chart once Jones returns, the freshmen arrive and Stephen Roberts, likely the fourth corner at the end of spring behind Jones, Holsey and safety Johnathan Ford, gets more reps.

"I just want to help this team in any way that I can, whether it's on special teams, kickoff, kickoff return—anything I can be," Sherwood said. "If I play on defense, that's fine, too. … I've just been positive with everything I do. I don't let anything get to me. I just move on to the next play. That's how I feel everybody should play.

"(Secondary coach Travis Robinson) says, 'You can't have bad days.' I just try to not have a bad day when I'm out there."