Ernest Dominic Capers (born August 7, 1950) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach who is a senior defensive assistant for the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He was previously the inaugural head coach of the Panthers and the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

for four seasons each. Capers is the only head coach to lead two different NFL

expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

s during their first seasons. A defensive assistant for most of his coaching career, Capers held his first

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

position with the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

in 1992. He left Pittsburgh to become the Panthers head coach in 1995, where he guided the team to a 7–9 record, the best finish for an NFL expansion franchise's inaugural season. The next year, Capers led the Panthers to a division title and the

NFC Championship Game The NFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the National Football Conference (NFC) and one of the two semifinal National Football League playoffs, playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional Ame ...

, making them the youngest NFL expansion franchise to accomplish both. Following two consecutive losing records, he was fired after the 1998 season. Capers' early success with Carolina would result in him serving as the inaugural head coach of the Texans from 2002 to 2005, although he was unable to lead them to a winning record or playoff berth. He continued to hold assistant coaching positions afterwards, most prominently as the defensive coordinator of the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

from 2009 to 2017, who he helped win

Super Bowl XLV Super Bowl XLV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

Early years

After playing

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

for the Meadowbrook Colts in Byesville, Ohio, Capers attended

Mount Union College The University of Mount Union is a private liberal arts university in Alliance, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1846, the university was affiliated with the Methodist Church until 2019. It had an enrollment of 2,100 students as of 2023. Histo ...

Alliance, Ohio Alliance is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States. The population was 21,672 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It was established in 1854 by the merger of three smaller communities and was a manufacturing and railroad hub in t ...

where he played linebacker and defensive tackle. He is a brother of the Alpha Nu chapter of

Alpha Tau Omega Alpha Tau Omega (), commonly known as ATO, is an American social Fraternities and sororities, fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1865 by Otis Allan Glazebrook. The fraternity has around 250 active and inactive chapters an ...

fraternity.

Coaching career

College

He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a Public university, public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Kent State University at Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Kent State ...

and the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

. Later he was an assistant coach at

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, and

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

Professional

After a stint in the

USFL The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

, he began his

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

career as an assistant with the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

and was named defensive coordinator of the

in 1992, including a trip to the AFC Championship game in 1994. He remained with the Steelers until becoming head coach of the expansion Carolina Panthers in 1995. After 1995's 7–9 season, a record breaking mark for an expansion team, the Panthers posted a 12–4 record in 1996 and advanced to the NFC Championship game, where they were defeated by the eventual

Super Bowl XXXI Super Bowl XXXI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

champion

. This would end up being Capers' only winning season as a head coach, as well as the only season in which his team qualified for the playoffs. Continuing to spend against the salary cap, and eventually taking control of personnel matters in 1997, the Panthers went 7–9, followed by a 4–12 season in 1998, at the end of which he was terminated. After being let go from the Panthers, he served as the

with the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

until becoming the head coach of the expansion Houston Texans on January 21, 2001. After starting out 4–12 (2002) and 5–11 (2003) in his first two seasons in Houston, the Texans posted a 7–9 mark in 2004. However, the Texans dropped to a record of 2–14 in 2005 and Capers was fired. On January 23, 2006, the Miami Dolphins announced the hiring of Dom Capers as the team's defensive coordinator. There, he served as assistant head coach. With an annual salary of $2.6 million, Capers was the highest paid assistant coach in the NFL, alongside

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

assistant head coach

Gregg Williams Gregg Williams (born July 15, 1958) is an American football coach. His most recent National Football League (NFL) experience was as the defensive coordinator for the New York Jets, from 2019 to 2020. Previously, he was head coach of the Buffal ...

. On Thursday, January 3, 2008, Dom Capers was fired along with all offensive and defensive coaches. On January 29, 2008, Capers interviewed with the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

for the vacant linebackers coach position. It is rumored that he was offered the defensive coordinator or defensive consultant position. On February 21, 2008, Capers was hired by the Patriots as their secondary coach/special assistant, replacing Joel Collier. On January 19, 2009, Capers was named the Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator by head coach

Mike McCarthy Michael John McCarthy (born November 10, 1963) is an American professional American football, football coach who most recently was the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) from 2020 Dallas Cowboys season, 2020 t ...

and general manager

Ted Thompson Ted Thompson (January 17, 1953 – January 20, 2021) was an American professional American football, football player and executive in the National Football League (NFL). He was the General manager (American football), general manager of the Gr ...

, where he replaced the

4–3 defense In American football, a 4–3 defense is a defensive alignment consisting of four down linemen and three linebackers. It is called a "base defense" because it is the default defensive alignment used on "base downs" (1st and 2nd downs). However, ...

Green Bay had used since 1992 with the 3–4 he used in Miami. Green Bay's defensive ranking in his first year improved to second in the league in 2009, from 21st in the league in 2008. Between September 12, 2010, and January 2011, Capers' defense finished the regular season ranked 2nd in scoring defense, 5th in total defense, 2nd in interceptions, 2nd in sacks, and 1st in opposing quarterback passer rating, in spite of being decimated by injuries during the 2010 season. On February 6, 2011, Capers led a 5th ranked defensive squad and helped the Packers win the Super Bowl. During the playoff run his team had a pick six in the final 3 playoff games that year; Divisional Round (Williams), Championship game (Raji), and in Super Bowl XLV (Collins). On January 1, 2018, he was fired as the defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers by head coach Mike McCarthy. On February 19, 2019, the

announced that Capers will join their coaching staff as a senior defensive assistant. After one season in Jacksonville, he joined the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

on February 10, 2020, in the same capacity. His contract with the Vikings was not renewed after the season. On January 29, 2021, the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

announced that Capers will join their coaching staff as a senior defensive assistant. On February 11, 2022, Capers was hired by the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

to serve as a senior defensive assistant for the 2022 season. Following a year-long stint with the Broncos, Capers returned to the Carolina Panthers to serve as a senior defensive assistant under newly hired head coach

Frank Reich Frank Michael Reich (; ; born December 4, 1961) is an American football coach and former player who is the interim head coach at Stanford University. He played 14 seasons as a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He became a coac ...

Head coaching record

References

External links

Carolina Panthers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Capers, Dom 1950 births Living people American football linebackers California Golden Bears football coaches Carolina Panthers head coaches Green Bay Packers coaches Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football coaches Houston Texans head coaches Jacksonville Jaguars coaches Kent State Golden Flashes football coaches Miami Dolphins coaches Minnesota Vikings coaches New England Patriots coaches Mount Union Purple Raiders football players New Orleans Saints coaches Ohio State Buckeyes football coaches Pittsburgh Steelers coaches San Jose State Spartans football coaches Tennessee Volunteers football coaches Washington Huskies football coaches NFL defensive coordinators People from Cambridge, Ohio Players of American football from Ohio Denver Broncos coaches Carolina Panthers coaches Coaches of American football from Ohio NFL Coach of the Year winners