To whomever said that Capers was a "defensive genius", ... could you let me know why? I'd like to believe that but in looking at his record, it seems very mixed. There's no doubt he's experienced and knows what he's doing. And, although he's had some real successes, he's also had a number of flops.
In my looking at his football coaching background, he has always been a defensive guy having held a number of defensive asst positions for many years before being hired as the DC for the 1992 Pittsburgh Steelers. This was his first DC position. It was also Bill Cowher's first year as HC of the Steelers. Cowher was himself a very defensive minded coach who served successfully as the DC at Kansas City from 1989-1991 before being hired as the HC at Pittsburgh for 1992. Capers served as the DC for the Steelers from 1992-94 and the Steelers D was very good:
1991 (before Cowher/Capers - PIT ranked 22nd in pts given up & 22nd in yards given up
1992 (Cowher/Capers 1st yr) - PIT ranked 2nd in points, 13th in yards
1993 - PIT ranked 8th in pts and 3rd in yds
1994 - PIT ranked 2nd in pts and 2nd in yds
But, I just wonder (and think it likely) that Cowher had a lot to do with that D's success.
In any case, Capers took the success at PIT and parlayed it into a HC job with the expansion Carolina Panthers in 1995. This was the first year for that franchise. The first year, the team went 7-9 with the D ranking 8th in pts, 7th in yds. That seems really good to me, esp for an expansion team. In '96 the team made the playoffs going 12-4 with a D that ranked 2nd in pts and 10th in yds. After those initial great successes, a decline occurred. In '97 the Panthers went 7-9 with its D ranking 13th in pts and 15th in yds. Further decline in '98 with the team going 4-12, and the D ranking 27th in pts and 30th in yds. Capers was gone from Carolina after that year.
In 1999, he was the DC for Jacksonville where he seems to have done his best job. JAX had ranked 17th in pts and 25th in yds in 1998. Under Capers in 1999, they improved to 1st in pts and 4th in yds. In 2000, the D there ranked 16th in pts and 12th in yds. It was enough to get Capers another HC job with another expansion team, Houston.
Capers was HC of HOU from 2001-2005 with 2002 being the first year they played. In '02 the D there ranked 20th in pts and 16th in yds. Not bad at all for a first year expansion team. In '03, the ranking fell to 27th in pts and 31st in yds. In '04 HOU's D ranked 15th in pts and 23rd in yds. Finally, '05 was Capers' last in HOU with the team's record declining to 2-14 with the D ranking 32nd in pts and 31st in yds.
In '06 he was a special asst at Miami under Saban and took over the DC duties in '07 under Cameron. The D there ranked 30th in pts and 23rd in yds before almost the entire organization was gutted.
Capers spent '08 as a secondary coach for the Patriots.
I'm not sure why he is or would be considered a "defensive genius," but I'd like to know. It seems like he's had mixed success. He seems to come in and get some quick success, but doesn't sustain it. I think I'd be okay with that pattern cause it would mean quick success here. But, why is he considered a "defensive genius"?
(fyi, ... I got my records and rankings off of
Team Encyclopedias and Records - Pro-Football-Reference.com