Capers Joins Vikings; Moss Wastes No Time Employing Firing Squad

Meanwhile, in Green Bay, Matt LaFleur makes a move.

Bill Huber | Feb 10, 2020

Capers Joins Vikings; Moss Wastes No Time Employing Firing Squad /

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Dom Capers is back.

And Winston Moss is back at it.

First, the Minnesota Vikings have hired Capers, Green Bay’s defensive coordinator from 2009 through 2017, to serve as senior defensive assistant. Capers’ 32-year NFL coaching career includes 25 seasons as a defensive coordinator or head coach. He spent four seasons as head coach of the Carolina Panthers (1995-98) and five years as head coach of the Houston Texans (2001-05), both expansion teams. He has also held defensive coordinator duties for the Pittsburgh Steelers (1992-94), Jacksonville Jaguars (1999-2000), Miami Dolphins (2006-07) and the Packers (2009-17). He was a senior defensive assistant last year for Jacksonville, which finished fourth in sack percentage.

Next, Moss’ tenure as coach and general manager of the XFL’s Los Angeles Wildcats got off to a rocky start. Two days after the Wildcats lost 37-17 in their inaugural game, Moss – the Packers’ former linebackers coach and assistant head coach – fired defensive coordinator Pepper Johnson.

“We recognize that there are issues we need to address for the 2020 season,” Moss said. “While these decisions are difficult, we have given this significant thought. We are here to put the best possible product on the field for our fans. We thank Pepper for his contributions to the Wildcats and we are looking forward to our home opener this weekend."

It was an odd move from Moss, considering this was his hand-picked coaching staff. His tenure in Green Bay ended poorly, from bizarre media appearances to his dismal by interim coach Joe Philbin.

Meanwhile, Packers coach Matt LaFleur made a move on his coaching staff – but it wasn’t the hiring of a receivers coach. He named Connor Lewis his offensive quality coach. Lewis is entering his fifth season with the Packers, having joined Green Bay in 2016 as a football technology analyst intern before being promoted to football technology analyst in 2017. Kevin Koger held that role last season after spending the previous three seasons as receivers coach at Eastern Kentucky.

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Published Feb 10, 2020

BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.