Dom Capers' Hard Work Finally Results in Super Bowl Trip

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Josh Gordy, 23, was born in 1987.

He nimbly maneuvered through the Super Bowl XLV media day mass on Tuesday. Gordy is a Packers rookie cornerback.

One NFL season in ... Super Bowl dream fulfilled.

Dom Capers, 60, was born in 1950. His first coaching job was at Kent State in 1972. When Gordy was born in '87, Capers was already in the NFL as a defensive backs coach for the New Orleans Saints. Capers has toiled for eight NFL teams since 1986. He is the Packers defensive coordinator.

Twenty-five NFL seasons in ... Super Bowl dream fulfilled.

"That gives me all the perspective I need to appreciate this,'' Gordy said. "Coach Capers is a true professional.''

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Capers knows about perspective. Appreciation.

He thinks of Gordy and all of the young Packers -- the time and distance between their Super Bowl achievements -- and insists that each is getting his due.

"It may have taken me longer to get to this game, but it just shows that if you stay the course, get through a lot of ups and downs and believe in what you are doing and (that) the way you are doing it is right, then this chance can come,'' Capers said. "I did believe one day this would happen.''

If he says it, you can believe it.

There is not a more dignified coach in football than Dom Capers.


More from NFL.com on the 3-4 defense Packers coach Mike McCarthy said that Capers "is truly the most detailed person I have ever been around.'' He said that Capers has repeatedly told him that he wants to be the coach for McCarthy that Capers himself would want to hire.

Packers cornerback Tramon Williams said that Capers knows his 3-4 defense "like the back of his hand'' and that the players buy into it. Packers secondary coach Darren Perry said there is not a lot of laughing, not a lot of joking in Capers' meetings with his defense -- it's business; it's highlight pens everywhere used by Capers. A bushel of them.

"You move one of his highlighters,'' said Perry, laughing, "and he might go bonkers!''

Capers teaches with passion and energy, and demands his defense plays that way. He gives them a lists of "musts'' before every game. He is blunt in what he asks of his defense -- there are no gray areas with Capers.

His game plan against the Steelers offense in Super Bowl XLV begins where every plan he devises begins: Stop the run, make the offense one-dimensional. Then bring pressure blitzes from a variety of people and angles. Tackle Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger using sound technique.

Though the Packers defense has been shuffled due to injuries, enough stars have remained -- among them, linebacker Clay Matthews and cornerback Charles Woodson, along with an emerging force, nose tackle B.J. Raji. With this trio and others, Capers is taking more chances in his defensive calls, letting his athletes all around shine. Allowing playmakers to roam from different positions and make damaging plays.

Green Bay's 2-4-5 alignment (two linebackers, four linebackers, five defensive backs) has been a fresh deviation from their base 3-4 defense. This alignment allows even more athletes and speed on the field, and the Steelers can expect to see it in key passing situations and elsewhere in this Super Bowl.

The Packers (15.0) finished second to the Steelers (14.5) this season in average points allowed per game. In Capers' two Green Bay seasons, the Packers are first in the league in fewest rushing touchdowns allowed (11), first in interceptions (54) and first in lowest opponent passer rating average allowed per game (68.0).

"This defense this year went through a lot of transition, but in that, developed an unselfishness and commitment to the group, a bond that brought us here,'' Capers said." You have to have two things added to talent to have a good defense -- belief and trust. When you have that, the faster you can be, the better you can be.''

Capers was the Pittsburgh defensive coordinator from 1992-94. He helped build a 900-page defensive playbook, he said, that became a staple guide of the 3-4, zone-blitzing defense. The Packers say that Perry and linebackers coach Kevin Greene have helped nudge Capers into even more chances, into more creativity with his defense this season.

But Capers remains the source of this defense.

He has kept a daily journal of his 25-year NFL coaching career. He can tell you what he was doing at a certain practice years ago on a specific date. He often looks back in his journals to see how he has evolved, see how he has changed, learn what he can do to be better today. But there were no entries in that journal for actual Super Bowl preparation.

Until now.

"I guess today's entry would have to say that this media day has shown me the immense interest in our game,'' Capers said. "Watching this scene, I have a refreshed respect for that.''

For his entire, one-hour media day interview, Dom Capers stood in the Cowboys Stadium stands surrounded by cameras and microphones and reporters. Most coaches at Super Bowls in that situation sit for questions.

Why stand?

"I figured I owed them the respect of standing and taking their questions at eye level and doing the job the right way,'' Capers said. ``"have to love what you do, and I love coaching and most of the things that come with that. I want my players to know what I mean when I ask, 'Do you do what you say?'''