Green Bay, your long national nightmare is OVER

[Randall]

Cowboys could swoop in on Capers

By Greg A. Bedard of the Journal Sentinel

Jan. 17, 2009 9:29 a.m.

 

Green Bay -- Will it happen a third time?

 

After watching prospective defensive coordinator candidates Mike Nolan (Denver) and Gregg Williams (New Orleans) take jobs elsewhere after interviewing, Packers coach Mike McCarthy could hit the trifecta when it comes to the latest candidate, former Houston and Carolina coach Dom Capers.

 

How?

 

The two most dreaded words in the NFL language (other than Pacman Jones and T.O.): Jerry Jones.

 

Mr. Deep Pockets spares no expense when it comes to filling out a coaching staff. Whatever it takes, he spends since there's no salary cap for coaches.

 

Jones actually tried to hire Capers before last season as a defensive consultant. But when then-defensive coordinator Bill Stewart was asked about the possibility of having his former boss in Houston on his staff, Stewart admitted it would make him uncomfortable. So Capers, in a classy move, declined the job.

 

Well, Stewart was fired on Friday. Door, open.

 

The Dallas Morning News identified three potential candidates -- Cowboys secondary coach Dave Campo, Cowboys defensive line coach Todd Grantham, and former Saints defensive coordinator and Cowboys LB coach Gary Gibbs -- to fill Stewart's spot. Those guys are nice and readily available to Jones. But keep an eye on Capers. For Jones, the grass is always greener on the outside.

 

An accompanying blog post at the DMN has the headline: "If the Cowboys want Dom Capers, they better act quickly." It refers to Capers' interview today with the Packers.

 

Obviously the DMN hasn't been keeping up with the Packers' DC search and what happened to the first two guys that interviewed. At this rate, Jones might be able to drive from Dallas to swoop up Capers before the Packers make a move.

[budlitebrad]

Packers reach agreement with Capers

By Tom Silverstein of the Journal Sentinel

Jan. 18, 2009 10:20 p.m.

 

Pittsburgh -- Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy's new defensive coordinator will be Dom Capers.

 

A source familiar with the search process said Sunday night that McCarthy and Capers had reached an agreement on a new deal that would bring the longtime defensive coordinator and former head coach to Green Bay.

 

Capers made himself known with a 3-4 defense, but he has worked with other defenses as well and probably will employ a hybrid 3/4 - 4/3 defense. This past season, Capers was a special assistant with the New England Patriots, coaching mostly in the secondary.

 

Capers was the fourth of four prominent defensive coaches to interview with McCarthy. He visited Friday night and Saturday with McCarthy and then agreed to a new deal Sunday night.

 

Terms of the agreement are not known.

[piratesownninjas]

So we're going to be seeing a 3-4 next year, right?

What does this mean for Kampman... I'm not sure he fits a 3-4...

[Randall]

Packers Will Switch To 3-4 Defense

Here are some of the talking points from Packers coach Mike McCarthy's press conference held at 1 p.m. today:

 

* The Packers' starting point will be the 3-4 formation on defense under new defensive coordinator Dom Capers. It creates problems for opposing offenses. The Packers will use both four-man and three-man fronts.

 

* It was a very difficult decision to fire eight assistant coaches. McCarthy put a lot of time and thought into the decision. It came down to this: he didn't feel they were heading in the right direction. Things that occurred in Year 1 showed up again in Year 3.

 

* Capers will be a good fit because he brings credibility. He had a thorough interview.

 

* Aaron Kampman and Cullen Jenkins will fit well in the Packers' new defense.

* One of the priorities was hiring someone with defensive coordinator experience.

 

* Winston Moss will continue in his position as linebackers coach and assistant head coach.

 

* It was McCarthy's decision to fire his assistants. He kept Ted Thompson abreast of the situation, but Thompson had no problem changing to the 3-4 defense.

 

* Shawn Slocum is an excellent coach and the best choice for special teams coach. Slocum will bring his own unique style and approach and isn't a clone of former special teams coach Mike Stock. It's important for Slocum to put his blueprint on the job.

 

* Capers is the best fit for the organization, although McCarthy didn't answer whether he offered the job to someone else first.

 

* The blueprint for the off-season program will be very similar, even though strength and conditioning coordinator Rock Gullickson was fired. He said it was similar to the situation on defense, and he was looking for improvement. "Are we moving forward. Is there growth?" were questions McCarthy asked in making that decision.

 

* Mark Lovat, assistant strength and conditioning coach, is one of five finalists for the strength and conditioning coordinator job.

 

* A change in direction in the program was needed and he doesn't see it as an act of desperation to fire so many assistants.

 

* His view of how he attacks his job will be the same and the pressure to win remains the same.

 

* There isn't a set timetable on hiring the remainder of the assistants, but McCarthy wants to finish that process soon.

 

-- Mike Vandermause, mvandermause@greenbaypressgazette.com

Edited January 19, 2009 by Randall

[piratesownninjas]

* Aaron Kampman and Cullen Jenkins will fit well in the Packers' new defense.

That's nice and all, but I still don't see where and how Kampman fits in a 3-4 Jenkins will be able to transition to 3-4 DE fairly easy, but Kampman isn't built to play an end position in a 3-4, and I don't see him being a standup OLB...

[Randall]

That's nice and all, but I still don't see where and how Kampman fits in a 3-4 Jenkins will be able to transition to 3-4 DE fairly easy, but Kampman isn't built to play an end position in a 3-4, and I don't see him being a standup OLB...

 

 

At this point I trust Capers. He may get him to beef up or slim down. Time will tell.

 

 

Packers coach Mike McCarthy spoke to the media in Lambeau Field to introduce new defensive coordinator Dom Capers. His arrival will also infuse a scheme change from the old 4-3 to the 3-4 defense.

 

This is an the updated version of highlights from McCarthy:

 

It was difficult to let three-year defensive coordinator Bob Sanders and the other coaches go, on a personal note. "Really, what it came down to, I just didn't feel that we were headed in the right direction on the defensive side of the ball. It was really an evaluation of the last three years. I felt that a number of things that occurred in Year 1 showed up again in Year 3. Those were some of the factors that put me in that decision."

 

While he was still open to the 4-3 defense, he wanted to go after the 3-4. That led him to Capers, a coach he'd never worked with before.

 

Capers is an excellent fit, said McCarthy. He brings credibility, lots of experience. When he gets here -- should be this week -- he and McCarthy will move forward this week on filling out the rest of the defensive staff. McCarthy was not in a hurry to lock up Capers before the New York Giants could woo him. The Packers have a lot to offer Capers, too. "His vision of playing defense and my vision of how we're going to go forward in Green Bay, I'm going to say I think is why he is an outstanding fit for our organization."

 

The Packers are looking now at a 3-4 defense with Capers, a system McCarthy prefers. "Our starting point will be the 3-4. I'm a big believer in the 3-4 defense for a number of reasons. From an offensive standpoint it creates targeting problems. It gives you an ability to utilize your personnel. That doesn't mean we won't line up (ever) in a four man front. We'll move in and out of both four man and three man fronts." It's an excellent run defense, it creates pass rush on the quarterback.

 

Ends Aaron Kampman and Cullen Jenkins will probably be excited about this change, McCarthy said, though he didn't directly say those two fit in to this scheme ideally. He did say the 3-4 features the"body type that will enhance the type of football we want to play here in November and December." McCarthy said Kampman is an outside rusher, but that doesn't mean he's going to be at end all the time.

 

Green Bay's current linebackers could fit in to this scheme very well, McCarthy summarized. Ryan Pickett is a pure nose tackle (to anchor the 3-4). Most of the pieces are here.

 

 

 

More

 

It is not the kind of scheme that necessarily fits the talents of Jenkins and end Aaron Kampman, who are probably the team's two best players in the front seven. Both are used to lining up wide of the tackles; if they are ends in the 3-4, they'll line up directly over the tackles.

 

But there will be adjustments to the scheme and both Kampman and Jenkins might get the same pass-rushing opportunities they would normally get on third downs. Kampman slimmed down to 265 pounds to fit the previous scheme and it's unclear whether he would be asked to bulk up to play end or stay slim to play linebacker/end.

 

"He's an outside rusher," McCarthy said. "Who's to say we're going to play him at the defensive end position? There's two types of 3-4. You look at the old two-gap 3-4, and you look at the 3-4 that Pittsburgh, Baltimore, San Francisco and Dallas, what they're doing with their personnel. I think this is an excellent defense for Aaron, particularly in the base defense, and we'll also utilize Aaron more in the sub-packages (third down)."

 

McCarthy didn't deny that there would be changes in the type of players the Packers pursue and an increased emphasis on adding talented linebackers. But he has no intention of dumping those who are productive players just because of the scheme.

 

 

Capers news conference Live

Edited January 20, 2009 by Randall

[Randall]

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

 

Live Chat 1-2 P.M. Today

Another quick reminder that I'll be chatting live from 1 to 2 p.m. today. If you can pull yourself away from Inauguration coverage -- and by all means, make that a priority -- come hang out with me for a bit.

 

First, my quick takes on Dom Capers' media-conference debut:

 

* One prominent theme was flexibility, particularly in coverage. Under Bob Sanders, the Packers played aggressive, man-to-man defense on nearly every down. Capers made a point of saying coverage and pressure must work hand in hand, and that the approach must vary, because if teams know what's coming, they can strike against it. Predictability was a common criticism of Sanders' scheme.

 

* That flexibility also carries over to personnel. Capers made clear his goal is to find ways to get the best 11 defenders on the field and player to their strengts. That said, there are plenty of obvious questions Capers (rightly) said he's not yet educated enough to answer in terms of personnel. (Before anyone makes fun of that statement, I'll point out that no coach, no matter how much he studies the NFL, can say for certain what he has with a new team until he does his own player-by-player evaluations.) What we know for sure is the Packers will run a base 3-4 defense. That can mean a lot of different things.

 

* Capers comes off like a head coach. He's articulate and also knows how to speak at length without opening up too much. That's another change from Sanders, who mostly was cordial in his dealings with reporters but tended to be a man of few words.

 

There's no way to say how Capers' tenure here will work out, but it's safe to say he performed OK in his introduction. Pete Dougherty will have plenty more on this later today at PackersNews.com.

 

-- Tom Pelissero, tpelisse@greenbaypressgazette.com

[piratesownninjas]

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

 

Live Chat 1-2 P.M. Today

Another quick reminder that I'll be chatting live from 1 to 2 p.m. today. If you can pull yourself away from Inauguration coverage -- and by all means, make that a priority -- come hang out with me for a bit.

 

First, my quick takes on Dom Capers' media-conference debut:

 

* One prominent theme was flexibility, particularly in coverage. Under Bob Sanders, the Packers played aggressive, man-to-man defense on nearly every down. Capers made a point of saying coverage and pressure must work hand in hand, and that the approach must vary, because if teams know what's coming, they can strike against it. Predictability was a common criticism of Sanders' scheme.

 

* That flexibility also carries over to personnel. Capers made clear his goal is to find ways to get the best 11 defenders on the field and player to their strengts. That said, there are plenty of obvious questions Capers (rightly) said he's not yet educated enough to answer in terms of personnel. (Before anyone makes fun of that statement, I'll point out that no coach, no matter how much he studies the NFL, can say for certain what he has with a new team until he does his own player-by-player evaluations.) What we know for sure is the Packers will run a base 3-4 defense. That can mean a lot of different things.

 

* Capers comes off like a head coach. He's articulate and also knows how to speak at length without opening up too much. That's another change from Sanders, who mostly was cordial in his dealings with reporters but tended to be a man of few words.

 

There's no way to say how Capers' tenure here will work out, but it's safe to say he performed OK in his introduction. Pete Dougherty will have plenty more on this later today at PackersNews.com.

 

-- Tom Pelissero, tpelisse@greenbaypressgazette.com

Thanks Randall.

[Randall]

A little more.

 

Capers has only 7½ months until the start of the regular season to teach a substantially different scheme to the Packers’ players.

 

Capers made a similar transition quickly once in the past, with Jacksonville. In 1998, the Jaguars ran a 4-3 scheme and finished No. 25 in the NFL in yards allowed and No. 17 in points allowed; in ’99, coach Tom Coughlin hired Capers to run the 3-4 and finished No. 4 in yards allowed and No. 1 in points allowed. The next season, though, Capers’ defense dropped to Nos. 12 and 16, respectively.

 

Though Capers and McCarthy no doubt have talked about how the Packers’ players fit in the 3-4, Capers said he didn’t know their personnel well enough yet to say publicly where players in the front seven will line up in the new scheme. His two immediate projects are helping McCarthy hire the rest of the defensive coaching staff and watching the Packers’ game videotape from last season. He’ll then look for ways to build his scheme around the personnel.

 

“The No. 1 one thing you do is you try to adapt what you are doing to your good football players,” Capers said. “If a guy is a good football player, we’re going to find a way to use him. You take and you say, ‘Hey, if these are our 11 best football players, let’s adapt what we are doing to get those 11 best football players out there,’ because they give you the best chance of winning.”

[Chavez]

“The No. 1 one thing you do is you try to adapt what you are doing to your good football players,” Capers said. “If a guy is a good football player, we’re going to find a way to use him. You take and you say, ‘Hey, if these are our 11 best football players, let’s adapt what we are doing to get those 11 best football players out there,’ because they give you the best chance of winning.”

Those words are music to my ears.

[Vicster]

I don't know about you guys, but I happen to be kind of excited about the prospect of a move from the 4-3 to the 3-4. I've never really viewed Kampman as an all about speed guy. He has good point of attack skills as well and can set the edge. The same goes for Jenkins who can flip between both tackle and end. I think a 3-4 is the right fit for Jenkins and with time, Kampman can adjust to it. I believe our problem will be the linebackers for the scheme. We don't have athletic linebackers outside of Hawk and Barnett. I find that Hawk looks a little stiff at times to me as well, especially against those smaller and quicker backs. Several times he was put out in coverage on a back and he couldn't stick with the guy, one move and they were by him. I'll be very interested in how they apply the scheme to this personel set.

[Randall]

I don't know about you guys, but I happen to be kind of excited about the prospect of a move from the 4-3 to the 3-4. I've never really viewed Kampman as an all about speed guy. He has good point of attack skills as well and can set the edge. The same goes for Jenkins who can flip between both tackle and end. I think a 3-4 is the right fit for Jenkins and with time, Kampman can adjust to it. I believe our problem will be the linebackers for the scheme. We don't have athletic linebackers outside of Hawk and Barnett. I find that Hawk looks a little stiff at times to me as well, especially against those smaller and quicker backs. Several times he was put out in coverage on a back and he couldn't stick with the guy, one move and they were by him. I'll be very interested in how they apply the scheme to this personel set.

 

 

Kampman was a LB in high school and for his first 2 years in college. He also played several sports. He may be a better athlete than we know.

 

From Wiki-

 

...Kampman played the linebacker position and set school records for tackles in a game (26), a season (188), and a career (447). He was his team's MVP his junior and senior seasons and team captain as a senior.

 

Kampman received a number of honors in high school. He was named the Iowa Class 2A Player of the Year, a USA Today second team All-American, and a Parade Magazine All-American. He was named district MVP and an Iowa all-state selection as a junior and as a senior, and he was an Elite all-state selection as a senior. Kampman also earned team MVP honors in the Iowa Shrine all-star game following his senior season, leading his team with 13 tackles.

[edit]College career

 

Aaron Kampman was highly recruited out of high school, and he chose to play for the University of Iowa and Hall of Fame coach Hayden Fry. Kampman played nine games as a true freshman in 1998, recording 49 tackles. After the season, Coach Fry retired, and Kampman played the rest of his career for Kirk Ferentz.

 

As a sophomore, Kampman started all 11 games for Iowa at linebacker, and he finished second on the team with 103 tackles. He had five games with ten or more tackles in 1999 and was academic All-Big Ten.

 

Prior to his junior season, Kampman switched positions from linebacker to defensive end.

[Chavez]

I don't know about you guys, but I happen to be kind of excited about the prospect of a move from the 4-3 to the 3-4. I've never really viewed Kampman as an all about speed guy. He has good point of attack skills as well and can set the edge. The same goes for Jenkins who can flip between both tackle and end. I think a 3-4 is the right fit for Jenkins and with time, Kampman can adjust to it. I believe our problem will be the linebackers for the scheme. We don't have athletic linebackers outside of Hawk and Barnett. I find that Hawk looks a little stiff at times to me as well, especially against those smaller and quicker backs. Several times he was put out in coverage on a back and he couldn't stick with the guy, one move and they were by him. I'll be very interested in how they apply the scheme to this personel set.

I dunno, I think Poppinga could probably do OK as a tackle-to-tackle thumper in the 3-4. His coverage skills are bit underrated as well - he isn't flawless but he's adequate.

[Randall]

Some NFL scouts and coaches are adamant that one of the biggest advantages for running a 3-4 defense, as the Green Bay Packers will in 2009, is it’s easier to find players who can perform well than in the 4-3.

 

 

The 3-4 calls for noticeably different body types in some spots of the front seven, most notably at outside linebacker, which is a hybrid position with responsibilities both as an outside pass rusher and in pass coverage in the flats.

 

In the 3-4, all three defensive linemen are like defensive tackles, so there are three run-oriented defenders on the line instead of two. The outside linebackers don’t have to be as big as defensive ends in the 4-3, and can range anywhere from 240 pounds on up. That leaves the 3-4 open to a large pool of players who are pass rushers in college but are too small to be every-down ends in the 4-3 and not fast enough to handle the downfield coverage responsibilities of a conventional linebacker in the 4-3.

 

Also, fewer NFL teams play the 3-4 than 4-3, though those numbers are closing, so fewer teams value those hybrid players and provide competition to draft them.

 

“Big people are hard to find,” General Manager Ted Thompson said Wednesday from the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., “it doesn’t matter whether it’s on the defensive or offensive side of the line, because the good Lord only made so many of them. So I don’t know, we’ll see (if it’s easier to find 3-4 players). I think maybe there’s going to be too much made of (the change). Will there be some differences in personnel? Probably. It’s still going to come down to who’s a good football player. I mean, Cullen Jenkins can play in any football system.”

 

Thompson also downplayed any advantage the Packers might gain in the NFC North Division, where no other teams play the 3-4. But earlier this week, coach Mike McCarthy talked about the difficulty adjusting to the blocking angles against 3-4 defenses as one reason for hiring Dom Capers this week as defensive coordinator to implement the 3-4.

 

“I know from an offensive standpoint,” McCarthy said, “when you look at it, when you play the 3-4, it creates targeting problems just from your initial game-plan meeting, and it really cuts the menu of the offense probably in half of what you would normally do on a four-man front.”

 

With the coaching staffs assembled so far this offseason, there appear to be 10 teams besides the Packers that will run a base 3-4 defense: San Francisco, Dallas, Miami, New England, the New York Jets, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, San Diego and Denver.

 

Thompson played in a 3-4 defense in his 10 years with the Houston Oilers, and he said he likes the 3-4 because it provides more ways to pressure the backfield than a conventional 4-3. He also approved of McCarthy’s choice to hire Capers to replace the fired Bob Sanders.

 

“I was all for it,” Thompson said. “(Capers) is a good man and a good coach, and I’m looking forward to working with him.”

 

Thompson said he and the rest of the Packers’ scouting staff will have to recalibrate their grades on some defensive players in the draft because of the change in scheme, though he did not consider it a major project.

 

“As you go through the spring there will be some subtle changes and grades where you might value a guy a round higher based on the fact that you’re running a different defense,” Thompson said. “But at the same time it’s still going to be about the football player. Guys that would be real good in the 3-4 even when we were running the 4-3, we didn’t just throw ’em away, we just didn’t value them as highly as another kind of team.”

[piratesownninjas]

I've been really impressed with Capers over the last few days. I'm getting excited to see what happens to this d.

[Randall]

Some scouting at the Senior Bowl?

 

SENIOR BOWL: Thursday morning tidbits

By Greg A. Bedard of the Journal Sentinel

Jan. 22, 2009 10:05 a.m.

 

Mobile, Ala. -- A couple of quickies before the last real practice for the North squad:

 

This is how the Packers scout each practice. The first couple of days, it seems like a different person in the organization studies a certain aspect or player at each practice. For example, Ted Thompson watched the North defensive linemen on Tuesday morning, and then the South linebackers on Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday, the whole Packers contingent was sitting high up in the stands at Ladd-Peeples Stadium. They were comparing notes to see if they had missed anything. Thompson really puts a premium on scouting in person -- some teams defer to film. That's why he's on the road so much scouting in the second half of the season.

 

The Packers have shown more than a passing interest in all three USC linebackers -- Brian Cushing, Clay Matthews Jr. and Rey Maualuga. Gee, I wonder why: all three can play in the 3-4, especially Cushing and Matthews. Maualuga, it appears, looks more like a Mike in a 4-3.

One thing about the USC guys, they've played some 3-4 at USC. Pete Carroll coached the 3-4 in the pros and said on the field Wednesday his kids are ready right away to play in that scheme in the pros.

 

"They'd fit in perfectly," Carroll said. "We have played 3-4 principals for two of the last four years with Cushing and Clay. They can do all the stuff. The thing about Cush, he can play inside very well. You watch Ray, saw him on ht eedge today, he looked great. There's nothing these guys can't do. Rya's an inside guy but he can rush on the edge when you want him to."

 

Speaking of Matthews, don't know if you could breed a better 3-4 linebacker. After practice, there was dad Clay (19 years in the NFL) and uncle Bruce (19 years) giving him pointers after practice. Of course, grandfather Clay Sr. also played in the league. Patriots coach Bill Belichick is probably tripping over himself to draft Clay Jr. -- his father was one of Belichick's favorite players in Cleveland.

 

Speaking of Belichick, do you think things between him and Dom Capers ended, um, kind of awkwardly? When asked about Capers, Belichick snapped, "Go ask the Packers about Dom Capers." Uh, OK.

[budlitebrad]

Word is Mike Trgovac has joined the defensive staff. Not the most beloved DC in Carolina, but an experienced coach is always good.

[Randall]

Word is Mike Trgovac has joined the defensive staff. Not the most beloved DC in Carolina, but an experienced coach is always good.

 

 

He'll coach the dline, something with which he has he has extensive experience. Can he bring Peppers with him?

[piratesownninjas]

He'll coach the dline, something with which he has he has extensive experience. Can he bring Peppers with him?

If this happens, I'll happily go streaking through my neighborhood.

[Randall]

It may be time to sign another CB from the Raiders. Nnamdi Asomugha

 

Keep Woodson at safety.

 

 

_______

 

 

When Mike Trgovac surprisingly became available this week, coach Mike McCarthy quickly hired him as the Green Bay Packers’ defensive line coach, an NFL source said Friday.

 

 

Trgovac was Carolina’s defensive coordinator the past six years but, along with two other defensive assistants for the Panthers, turned down belated contract offers this week to return to the team. McCarthy and Trgovac worked together for a season with the Packers in 1999 under former coach Ray Rhodes, and with McCarthy looking to fill most of his defensive coaching positions this offseason, he turned to Trgovac to oversee the defensive line.

 

The Packers aren’t expected to announce any new assistant hires until McCarthy has filled out his entire staff after naming Dom Capers as defensive coordinator earlier this week. Capers, Trgovac and defensive quality control coach Joe Whitt Jr. are the only known members of the defensive staff.

 

Trgovac ran a 4-3 scheme with Carolina but will be coaching in new defensive coordinator Dom Capers’ 3-4 with the Packers.

 

Last season Trgovac’s defense finished No. 18 in the NFL in yards allowed and No. 14 in points allowed, and the 12-4 Panthers finished as the second-seeded team in the NFC. Arizona upset Carolina in the divisional round of the playoffs.

 

Trgovac and several other members of Carolina’s defensive coaching staff were in the final year of their contracts this season, and according to a report at ESPN.com, they became miffed when the Panthers didn’t follow a common practice in the league of offering them new deals before the playoffs started. Not only did Trgovac turn down a new contract late this week, but so did defensive line coach Sal Sunseri and secondary coach Tim Lewis. Sunseri went to the University of Alabama as an assistant head coach and linebackers coach, and Lewis will coach the Seattle Seahawks’ secondary.

 

Trgovac, who turns 50 next month, started his NFL coaching career by jumping from Notre Dame to the Philadelphia Eagles as defensive line coach from 1995-98. The Eagles fired Rhodes and his staff after the ’98 season, but the Packers hired Rhodes, and he brought Trgovac with him to coach the defensive line in ’99. McCarthy was Rhodes’ quarterbacks coach that season.

 

The Packers fired Rhodes and his staff after the ’99 season, and Trgovac coached the Washington Redskins’ defensive line in 2000 and ’01. He went to Carolina as defensive line coach in ’02 and became defensive coordinator in ’03.

 

As coordinator in Carolina, Trgovac’s defense finished the ’07 season ranked No. 16 in yards allowed and No. 15 in points allowed; in ’06, Nos. 7 and tied for 8, respectively; in ’05, Nos. 3 and 5; in ’04, Nos. 20 and tied for 15; and in ’03, Nos. 8 and 10. The Panthers played in the Super Bowl in the ’03 season.

Edited January 24, 2009 by Randall

[piratesownninjas]

The Packers have shown more than a passing interest in all three USC linebackers -- Brian Cushing, Clay Matthews Jr. and Rey Maualuga.

Which leads me to believe that Cushing and Matthews Jr are the two Ted is really looking at. Maualuga is reportedly a 2 down backer. That paired with Cushing and Matthews being available later, and Thompson's propensity to trade down make me think he's targeting them.

I'm good with whatever happens, I'd just like to have a first round pick this time around.

[Randall]

 

Story on scouting for the 3-4.

[Randall]

Packer Chatters draft report.

 

Great Blue draft report

 

SI story on the switch

Edited January 25, 2009 by Randall

[Randall]

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/38436094.html

Greene fired up to assist linebackers

By Tom Silverstein of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: Jan. 26, 2009

Tampa, Fla. - When former linebacker Kevin Greene called seeking an interview for a job, Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers had only one question for him.

 

"Are you sure you're ready?"

 

In the five previous years, Greene had served brief summer stints in Pittsburgh, Miami, Jacksonville, St. Louis and Cincinnati as a volunteer assistant coach, and if asked then, his answer would have been no. But when he saw Capers, his old coach in Pittsburgh and Carolina, had landed a coordinator's job in Green Bay, he decided there was no time like the present.

 

"We had talked over the years and I never thought it was the right time," Greene said in a telephone interview Monday from his home in Florida. "I told him when I called him this was the right time. I wanted to get into it."

 

Capers, with the approval of head coach Mike McCarthy, brought Greene up for an interview on Wednesday, and after meeting with Capers, McCarthy and assistant head coach/linebackers Winston Moss, Greene left feeling he was in the right place. Even though Greene had never held a full-time coaching job, Capers offered him a position as outside linebackers coach.

 

"I'm humbled," said Greene, whose long, blond hair and frenzied style of play were as much his trademark as his 160 sacks during a 15-year career. "I'm tickled to death. It's an awesome day for me. The opportunity to be a coach for the Green Bay Packers . . . good googly."

 

___

 

http://urbansportstalk.wordpress.com/

 

Our sources have confirmed what we initially reported last week (1/19/09 - Packers Likely To Add Ex-Steelers DB Coach Perry) that Darren Perry has been hired as the Defensive Back Coach of the Green Bay Packers. We aren’t sure why there is such a slow rollout on the new staff, but Perry was in town prior to Dom Campers being hired.

 

What we heard is that the Packers didn’t want to wait on hiring a Defensive Coordinator before locking Perry up. Other NFL clubs were very interested in adding him to their staffs (i.e. Cowboys, Lions) so the Packers moved swiftly. Look for the official press release in the coming days and for Perry to get to work immediately after the Super Bowl.

Edited January 27, 2009 by Randall

[Randall]

Interesting article today on the 3-4-

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/38512934.html

 

Tampa, Fla. - As the Green Bay Packers brace to enter the brave new world of the 3-4 defense, the longtime defensive line coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers has a word of warning for holdover starters Ryan Pickett, Cullen Jenkins and Johnny Jolly.

 

"If he's got selfish guys, Dom won't be playing the 3-4. Period," John Mitchell said Tuesday at the Super Bowl, referring to Green Bay's new defensive coordinator, Dom Capers. "Because the defensive line is not going to get a lot of sacks or pub.

 

"You've got to have three guys who don't care who gets the publicity. All they want to do is be good football players and win."

 

Pickett, who will enter his ninth season, will be asked to be Green Bay's version of nose tackle Casey Hampton.

 

If, as expected, Jenkins plays the right end position held down by Brett Keisel in Pittsburgh, his quickness and pass-rushing burst might be compromised on early downs.

 

And Jolly figures to be among the contenders at left end, where Aaron Smith has started for the Steelers since 2000.

 

"The 3-4 is tough to play because, first of all, you've got to have a great nose tackle," said Mitchell, the Steelers' assistant head coach who has coached the unit since 1994. "Then you've got to have two ends that will play good technique and let the outside linebackers and the inside linebackers be the featured guys in the defense."

 

Today, there are two main forms of the 3-4 in the National Football League.

 

The first dates back 30 years to Bill Parcells and his two Super Bowl-winning teams in New York. His first lieutenant, Bill Belichick, brought that defense to New England in 2000, refined it and sent assistants Romeo Crennel and Eric Mangini off to coach it elsewhere.

 

The second could be referred to as the Pittsburgh 3-4. The Steelers have employed the 3-4 since 1983 but its current version stems from 1992, when Bill Cowher, Dick LeBeau and Capers collaborated.

 

A critical difference between the two is the positioning of the three linemen. The Parcells-Belichick branch asks their big men to line up directly over the blockers in front of them and control the gap on either side. The Pittsburgh branch is more of a one-gap system.

 

"If you look at us and New England, it's two different defenses," Mitchell said. "We don't play a lot of two-gap anymore. We switched five, six years ago."

 

Capers hasn't said yet what he will do in Green Bay.

 

Hampton often will adjust slightly toward the tight end-side of the center.

 

"Wherever that center puts his hat that's the side he's going to play," Mitchell said. "What A gap he has, the 'backer away from him has the other A gap."

 

In a traditional two-gap scheme, the ends are head-up over the tackles and the inside linebackers, such as Tedy Bruschi in New England, must wade in and take on guards. James Farrior and Larry Foote are midgets compared to somebody like Harry Carson was in New York.

 

Farrior and Foote are over the guards 4½ yards deep. The strong outside linebacker, LaMarr Woodley, generally lines up a yard or two outside the tight end when he's dropping and over him when he's playing the run. On the weak outside, James Harrison plays about 2 yards outside the tackle.

 

"With the guys we have right now, when you play two-gap you tie them down," Mitchell said. "Aaron Smith can run. Brett Keisel can run. Casey does a good job running. We have good inside backers who can cover ground. We can get away with a line playing one gap."

 

At this point, it would appear that Aaron Kampman will play Woodley's position and the holdover linebackers will vie for the other three positions.

 

"Dom will probably use the slightly offset line more than the two-gap," Davis said. "The Dom Capers scheme will not override what the players can do."

 

Harrison and safety Troy Polamalu are the biggest stars on this Steelers' defense but Smith, Keisel and Hampton underwrite the whole operation.

 

"What my guys have over a lot of guys in the 3-4 is we're better technicians," Mitchell said. "In Dick LeBeau's scheme, the front has to play well for everybody else to play well."

 

Mitchell said Smith was the best end he had ever coached. Hampton is a top-five nose man. And Keisel is more athletic but not as massive as Kimo von Oelhoffen, the Steelers' 310-pound right end from 2000-'05.

 

"Keisel plays with great leverage," Mitchell said. "Smith might be the most underrated defensive lineman in the league.

 

"But in the 3-4 you've got to start with a great nose tackle. If you've got a guy that can't control the nose you're going to have a tough time playing the 3-4."