 Capers with the Packers in 2011 | |||
| Carolina Panthers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Senior defensive assistant | ||
| Personal information | |||
| Born: | August 7, 1950 Cambridge, Ohio, U.S. | ||
| Career information | |||
| High school: | Byesville (OH) Meadowbrook | ||
| College: | Mount Union | ||
| Career history | |||
| As a coach: | |||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||
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| Head coaching record | |||
| Regular season: | 48–80 (.375) | ||
| Postseason: | 1–1 (.500) | ||
| Career: | 49–81 (.377) | ||
| Record at Pro Football Reference | |||
Ernest Dominic Capers (born August 7, 1950) is an American football coach who is a senior defensive assistant for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the inaugural head coach of the Panthers and the Houston Texans for four seasons each. Capers is the only head coach to lead two different NFL expansion teams during their first seasons.
A defensive assistant for most of his coaching career, Capers held his first defensive coordinator position with the Pittsburgh Steelers 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, 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 from 2009 to 2017, who he helped win Super Bowl XLV.