The Dom Capers Effect
by MaPatsFan
on May 4, 2008 8:31 PM EDT
in News
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Widely considered to be a major coup for the New England Patriots, Dom Capers has been named Special Assistant/Secondary coach of the Patriots. Secondary coach I get; he worries about defensive backs. But, Special Assistant? I view this as a way to distinguish Dom from the other coaches. You know, the guy who has 36 years experience in football and could school every other coach except Belichick? The guy that BB can talk to at the same level? Yup, that's Dom.
Dom has had a ridiculous career. From head coach of 2 NFL teams to defensive coach, he's been all over the gridiron. So why is Dom such a good catch? As one of our latest draft acquisitions found out, the devil is in the details:
Capers pulled second-round draft choice Terrence Wheatley to the side and told him to look at his right foot. Capers then planted his right foot into the ground. Then he did it again. And again.
"I was stepping with the wrong foot," Wheatley later explained. "He was just trying to be very specific, which is how you have to be as a player at this level. You can't round anything out, you have to be very precise in your movement and your angles."
Wheatley will leave rookie mini camp staring at his right foot, guaranteed. And with the number of new guys in the secondary, it was wise to focus a great deal of attention in this area by pulling in someone of Dom's caliber. But, I believe there's another reason: the Patriots were 10th in rushing yards per game, 6th in passing yards per game and 4th overall in defense for the 2007 regular season. While that's not too bad, I gotta believe it irks the heck out of Belichick. Remember, the Patriots were 1st in passing yards per game and 1st in overall offense for 2007. Ever the perfectionist, he wants this area to be strong. Remember those shots of Bill, with whiteboard in hand, drawing for Junior and Tedy? Yeah, he likes defense and wants it better.
Imagine, if you will, a defense as strong as the Patriots's offense. Imagine young, raw talent learning from a coach like Dom and soaking up all the experience our vets have to offer. Imagine a defense capable of sucking the life out of every offense in the NFL.
Just imagine... Welcome aboard, Dom .
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dom
about a month ago, Mike Reiss was saying on the radio that one of the reasons BB hired Dom is because if spygate goes down terribly, bb may possibly know that Matt may have something on him and if that was the case he could be suspended for a number of games. If that were the case a great Defensive coach like Dom could come in and take over in a similar way like BB would coach. Mike did not really beleive this theory as he stated, but he did throw that discussion out there because anything is possible, and this could be somewhat reasonable. Who knows he may have been playing devils advocate.
by melagrano on
May 5, 2008 6:55 PM EDT
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retraction
on the comment I wrote on Dom, It was MICHAEL FELGER NOT MIKE REISS!
by melagrano on
May 5, 2008 6:57 PM EDT
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Well...
I can see the wisdom in a move like that, but I think it was simply BB saw that Dom had not been hired yet, and no HC jobs were being offered to him, and he said “Hey, wanna come help us win the Super Bowl?” I also think that is why this last draft was heavily defense oriented. He knows that between Dom and himself, they can get this latest group up to speed faster.
I just can’t see BB being stupid enough NOT to give a full disclosure at this point, and allowing the Pat’s organization to make the statements they have if there was more out there. So IMHO, Dom was just out there, and BB jumped at the chance to have help of his caliber work on a young defense.
by Ogor on
May 5, 2008 7:33 PM EDT
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I have to agree with you
Whatever the exact words were between Belichick and Kraft immediately following spygate, I have to imagine Kraft absolutely laying it on the line for Belichick to come clean with any other information that could possibly come out that would be harmful to his team and his family name. For Belichick to hold anything back, especially something so potentially damaging, would not only be stupid and highly disrespectul, but also, I think, completely out of character.
The flip side is that I don’t know how the league would react with disciplinary measures even if Matt Walsh acted on his own. As a Patriots employee someone else might still have to be held accountable, and since BB is the villain of the moment, my guess is that his head would be the one sacrificed.
I personally don’t think he has the tape in question, but we’ll all know, once and for all, one week from today.
Keep the faith!
by Marima on
May 6, 2008 10:14 AM EDT
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I hope we will.
I hope that it is all out on the table clearly and done next week. If anything wrong was done, it can be addressed and moved past. If nothing new comes out, then it can be discarded and moved past. I’m sure that you all more than anybody, but most all of us, just want this to be handled appropriately and moved past so we can get on with enjoying the greatest sport on earth.
by coltsfanawalt on
May 6, 2008 11:48 PM EDT
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As an aside...
Commissioner Roger Goodell will have the physical evidence from Matt Walsh (whatever it is) delivered into his hot little hands on Thursday, May 8th. He is scheduled to meet personally with Walsh on May 13th and has promised to hold a press conference sometime that same afternoon to disclose what was given to him, and what, if any, repercussions will follow.
Feels a bit like Geraldo with Al Capone’s vault, and I hope the outcome is the same!
Keep the faith!
by Marima on
May 7, 2008 9:35 AM EDT
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