Sunday, January 18, 2009

Call Me a Panicked Chicken Little: Sign Capers. Now.

Add me to the list of folks who are calling for a quick signing of Dom Capers as Packers' defensive coordinator.
The New York Giants are targeting Dom Capers as their next defensive coordinator, replacing Steve Spagnuolo, who was hired as Rams coach on Saturday, sources told ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen Saturday.

Capers was New England's special assistant/secondary coach this season. Capers was given permission and has interviewed for the Packers' defensive coordinator job but is more likely to go with Coughlin. Capers worked with Coughlin in Jacksonville in 1999 and 2000. Link
I hate to be a Chicken Little, but the Packers have had two solid guys already slip through their fingers. I understand the process of interviewing many candidates and given deliberate, thoughtful deliberation to determine the best choice for the job.

But, at this point, the Packers need a solid guy in a DC, and with every interview-and-miss we undertake, the impression is that the Packers are not only a place where good coaches may want to avoid, but that we are working our way further and further down the list of quality candidates.

It may be too late. Maybe Capers now has working with Coughlin in mind, and there's nothing that can be done to change it. But the Packers could have put an offer on the table before Spagnuolo's hiring created the very opening that Capers wants.

The defense received the lion's share of blame for a 6-10 record this past season, and therefore deserves a lion's share of quality upgrades, both among the coaches and talent. I'm getting the feeling that the offers coming from the Packers are pithy and the coaches are using the Packers as negotiating tools, not for a job they really want once they leave the interview.

He who hesitates is lost. We keep talking about creating an aggressive defense in 2009. We could start by aggressively trying to get a quality coordinator.

1 comment:

Mikey334 said...

Fish, Fish. Get your wish.

That is what my Grandma would say when we were playing the card game go fish. If I didn't have the card she asked for and she would have to "go fish" and she drew the card she had asked for out of the pile (pond), she would laugh and say "Fish, Fish, get your wish."

OK, so it's a slow day.

You probably want some football in this post, huh?

For the record, I like Capers over Nolan or Williams. At least we have our next Head Coach lined up if MCMike doesn't cut it.

Curious. If MM has a toilet year, any chance we get Holmgren, Cowher, Gruden or Shanny. I would love to get Cowher. He would probably keep Capers and hopefully keep the offense intact as well. Maybe hire Mooch out of the studio or Sherm Lewis out of retirement for the OC job.

Of course, I would not mind Holmgren or Gruden either. Shanny would give me pause, however. He is just such a little weasel.