Sherman Lewis, one of Michigan State’s most accomplished players and later one of its most influential coaches, died Friday, May 15, at age 83. An MSU spokesman confirmed his death.

Lewis had been in an assisted living facility in recent years. Born June 29, 1942, in Louisville, Ky., he came to Michigan State to play football for Duffy Daugherty and run track for the Spartans, then became a captain of both teams. By 1962, he had earned honorable mention All-American honors and second-team All-Big Ten recognition. A year later, he was a first-team All-American and the Football News Player of the Year.

Lewis was the kind of player who could change a game with one burst. In 1963, he rushed for 577 yards on 90 carries and caught 11 passes for 303 yards. Over his college career, he ran for 1,566 yards and 23 touchdowns, while also winning Big Ten titles in the long jump and 300-yard dash. Michigan State inducted him into its Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001.

His impact stretched far beyond East Lansing. Lewis played professionally with Toronto of the Canadian Football League from 1964 to 1965 and with the New York Jets of the AFL in 1966 before returning to Michigan State as an assistant coach from 1969 to 1982. He worked under Daugherty, Denny Stolz, Darryl Rogers and Frank “Muddy” Waters, a span that kept him close to the program through multiple eras.

Lewis then spent nine seasons with San Francisco from 1983 to 1991, helping lead the 49ers to three Super Bowl wins while serving as running backs coach and later wide receivers coach. He became offensive coordinator in Green Bay in 1992 and held that role for eight years, through 1999, helping Brett Favre, Andre Rison and the Packers win the 1996 Super Bowl. Lewis was the first Black offensive coordinator to win a Super Bowl title. He later served as offensive coordinator in Minnesota from 2000 to 2001 and spent his final three seasons with the Lions, where he was offensive coordinator from 2003 to 2004.

Over 22 seasons in the NFL, Lewis’s teams compiled a 219-131-1 record. His reputation at Michigan State was deep enough that former teammate Clinton Jones said, “Sherm Lewis is a Giant in his death as he was a Giant his life.” Jimmy Raye called him “a true Spartan legend” and said his legacy reached well beyond the field, adding that he was “the first player from the segregated South to play a substantial role for coach Duffy Daugherty and the Spartans.” Lewis was passed over twice for the Michigan State head coaching job, including when the school hired Frank Waters in 1980 and Nick Saban in 1995 instead of him. Even so, his name remained tied to the school’s best years, and to a coaching career that carried him from East Lansing to the NFL’s biggest stage.