It was a pretty popular idea to fire old man Capers not long ago. I guess after the Packers dumped that worthless candy-ass didn’t renew the contract of Tom Clements, everyone put their pitchforks away and kind of resigned themselves to the fact that our buddy Dom is going to be here next year.
Still, fans on the whole seem like they would be thrilled if Capers were immediately sent packing.
Personally, I don’t think firing Dom is the right move. The guy’s proven himself to be successful, even if you don’t like how conservative he gets at times. He’s a legendary genius and you should all start admitting it – you don’t have to love him, but for heck’s sake, respect his body of work.
The numbers for 2016 don’t look great, but the game is about more than numbers. Every corner on the team was out or beat up, along with the whole linebacking core. Sure, injuries aren’t an excuse, but they’re a reason. Players won’t use injuries as an excuse for a loss – that’s both manly and commendable – but from the outside, if you really want to know why the Packers “fell short,” you have to say injuries (yes, even more than play calling).
Injuries took out half the defensive backfield and crippled half of whoever was left. What do you want Capers to do, he didn’t even have half a deck. (You want to whine about TT now? Don’t change the subject!)
So, here’s an idea: instead of firing a coach or GM when the team falls short of the Super Bowl because of injuries, let’s look at the guys who are actually responsible for preventing injuries: the strength and conditioning staff.
If you’re big on “accountability” and want to see someone fired, how about Mark Lovat (Strength and Conditioning Coordinator) and his staff of three or Bryan Engel (Head Athletic Trainer) and his staff of seven – wouldn’t those twelve marks make more sense give the actual issues on the team?
When you have all the injuries the Packers have had the last few years (this year ended with a nose tackle playing o-line, last year we went into overtime with only two healthy receivers, and the year before, Rodgers was hobbled and CM3 was sidelined, among a litany of others), how can we look anywhere else for accountability and firings?
The great thing about this idea is you can still do it before the season starts without a lot of disruption to the team. If you fire your defensive coordinators just before the draft, you have to try to find a new coordinator when they’ve pretty much all been taken and you will need a completely new draft strategy. All the research and thought that the scouting department has put into creating their big board is based on running Dom Capers’s scheme. That would get flushed down the toilet for some unknown joker if you fire Capers now. Plus, you’d have to hire a new coordinator and an entirely new stuff and get them all on the same page about a new scheme then bring all the players up to speed on it in short order. That’s a recipe for a 3-13 season.
Firing your strength and conditioning guys or your trainers would be a small transition – a mere blip on individual offseason regimens – but since minicamps haven’t even started, it would be pretty easy to change course right now. The Packers offseason workout program doesn’t start for a couple of weeks. That’s plenty of time to review player files and put together short term diet, treatment, and training plans until you get more detailed with the plans when offseason activities ramp up in May.
Besides, the cool kids already did it.