Green Bay Packers Defensive Coordinator Dom Capers will be out of his job at the end of this season, according to a new report published by ESPN .
The Packers (7-8 before Sunday’s games) won the NFC North last season, but have struggled this season, having been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention before Week 17. Much of that struggle has come due to their defense, which is currently ranked 22nd in the NFL (again, before Sunday’s games). Barring a major defensive improvement Sunday, the 2017-2018 NFL season will mark the sixth time in seven years that the Packers have finished outside the top half of the league defensively – all during Capers’ tenure. That tenure includes a dead-last finish in NFL defensive rankings in 2011.
In fact, Capers hasn’t had a defense rank in the top ten in the NFL since the 2010-2011 season, when the Packers, who would win the Super Bowl, finished the season with a 5th-ranked defense.
Capers, 67, has been with the Packers since 2009. This marks his longest stretch of employment with any one team since he broke into the NFL in 1986 when he was brought on as defensive backs coach with the New Orleans Saints. Since then, he’s had stints with the Steelers, Panthers, Jaguars, Texans, Dolphins, and Patriots.
This is a Dom Capers special. Seven guys in coverage. Two WRs on the route. Somehow BOTH of them are open and an entire back end is covering literally no one. Is 1 PM too early to start drinking?? pic.twitter.com/QZPW4F088e
— Peter Bukowski (@Peter_Bukowski) December 27, 2017
Capers has also had two brief stints as a head coach. He headed the Panthers when they entered the league as an expansive franchise, and headed the Texans, also when they entered the league as an expansive franchise. He was fired from both jobs.
Speaking to the media earlier this week, Capers seemed to indicate that he sees the writing on the wall when it comes to his career in Green Bay.
“One thing I’ve learned through a long career is you don’t want to spend any time in this business concerning yourself with things that you don’t have any control over, you know? You put the blinders on, you go to work, you try to be consistent in the way you do things and try to get guys ready to play.”
ESPN ‘s Adam Schefter, who broke the story of Capers’ upcoming dismissal, says it’s not clear if Capers will retire voluntarily or will be forced into retirement from the team. It’s also not clear if he will look for other coaching opportunities in the NFL or retire for good.
Capers’ dismissal is expected to be the biggest change to the Packers’ coaching staff following this season.
If social media is any indication, Packers fans will be glad to see Capers go.
Adam Schefter: Dom Capers will not return next season
Packers fans: pic.twitter.com/d4Zf9D6Ckb
— JD???? (@JDejuan2) December 31, 2017
So far….
Re-signed:
– Davante Adams – Corey Linsley
Fired:
Dom Capers
Good work @packers #GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/JoCQAUtx5e
— Cream City Central (@CreamCityCtral) December 31, 2017
The Packers play the Detroit Lions Sunday at Ford Field in the final game of the 2017-2018 season.
