Lions defensive senior assistant Dom Capers is leaving Detroit after one season. Capers, one of the legendary defensive architects of the modern NFL, is heading to Denver to fill a similar role with the Broncos and their new coaching staff.
Capers, 72, came to Detroit to help Aaron Glenn transition from being a position coach to a defensive coordinator for the first time. Glenn played under Capers with the Houston Texans and deployed a similar base scheme to Capers’ 3-4 with an Eagle front.
Even though the Lions defense struggled in the transition from Matt Patricia’s heavy read-and-react scheme, Capers is still quite bullish on Detroit’s defense.
“Believe me, everything was positive here,” Capers told the Detroit Free Press. “I loved Dan (Campbell) and I thought Dan did a great job this year holding this team together, keeping them fighting. And I thought A.G., I think through a lot of adversity and player movement and all those things did a really good job.”
Capers continued,
“I thought we played our best football at the end of the season, which having started two expansion teams from scratch, you’ve got some experience at having to fight through that. I just feel like the arrow’s pointing up and everything’s heading in the right direction here so that really had nothing to do with it.”
It is unknown if Capers will be replaced on the Lions staff. Detroit is hoping to hold onto defensive backs coach Aubrey Pleasant, who is still in consideration for the coordinator position with the New Orleans Saints.
