After 6-10 season, Packers bank on Capers' 3-4 being D cure

Dom Capers wants two things out of his defenses: Play aggressive and stop the run.

The Green Bay Packers did neither last season.

That's why Capers is the new coordinator in Green Bay, the man in charge of transitioning the Packers from a 4-3 defense to one that uses 3-4 fronts as a base formation.

The 3-4 is Capers' baby. He has been running it his entire NFL career, including head-coaching stops in Carolina and Houston.

Dom Capers could parlay success in Green Bay into a third NFL head-coaching gig. (Getty Images)

So to hear him talk about the move in Green Bay is to hear one very excited coach, the passion coming through as he talks.

"The exciting part is seeing how the players are taking to it," Capers said. "It's challenging, but that's what makes it enjoyable."

The Packers finished 26th against the run last year and 25th in sacks with only 27 during a 6-10 season. Watching their defense last season, it was clear their troubles stopping the run led to troubles rushing the passer. They barely sniffed the quarterback.

That's why coach Mike McCarthy decided to fire Bob Sanders and hire a new coordinator. He initially tried to hire Jim Haslett, who was the interim coach of the St. Louis Rams, but Haslett wanted to wait and see if he might get the Rams job on a permanent basis. McCarthy couldn't wait and opted for Capers, who worked last year as a consultant for the New England Patriots.

Whether it was Haslett, whom McCarthy worked under in New Orleans, or Capers, change was coming to Green Bay. McCarthy wanted a 3-4 style of defense.

The 3-4 is becoming more and more commonplace in the NFL. The Pittsburgh Steelers won a Super Bowl again with it last season, and we know what that means in the NFL.

Copycats step forward.

"The two top defenses in the league played the 3-4 last year in Pittsburgh and Baltimore," Capers said. "That means something to coaches."

Capers didn't need those stats to convince him to stick with the defense he prefers. He has been part of it since his days back in the USFL coaching the Philadelphia Stars secondary under Jim Mora. When Mora went to the New Orleans Saints, Capers went with him and then became defensive coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1992.

It was there that Capers and current Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau came up with the "Blitzburgh" style of playing the 3-4, which is pressuring with five or more different rushers while dropping others into coverage, often times in zone coverage.

"We didn't create the defense," Capers said. "We just tweaked it."

That landed Capers a head-coaching job in Carolina with the expansion Panthers and then again with the Houston Texans. At both spots, the 3-4 was the defense of choice, but his teams went only 49-81, leading to two firings.

"I'm the only guy dumb enough to take over two expansion teams," Capers said jokingly.

I got to know Capers well when he was the defensive coordinator of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 1999. That year, he took a group of players that really lacked star power and turned them into the No. 1 defense in the league for a team that went 14-2.

The Jaguars used the 4-3 as their base defense, but often integrated 3-4 fronts. One player from that defense Packers fans might want to look up is end Tony Brackens. He was a speed rusher who could put his hand on the ground or stand up and rush, and he went to the Pro Bowl that season.

Aaron Kampman will fill the Brackens role in Green Bay. Although he's not as explosive as Brackens was, Kampman will move from a down end to a rush linebacker in the new 3-4, although he will still put his hand on the ground some.

Kampman is the key player in the Green Bay switch.

"Well, I think it's going to be a good move for him," Packers general manager Ted Thompson said at the combine in February. "He's a little more talented player than people think. You have to remember that in the NFL you play in your base package less than 50 percent of the time. So 55, 60 percent of the time, you're going to be in sub packages where he's going to have his hand on the ground anyway."

Capers said of Kampman's 37 sacks the past three seasons, all but 3½ came in the sub packages.

"That shows he'll fit in fine with what we want to do," Capers said. "He's working hard at all of it. He's done a nice job working on the coverage part of it."

Kevin Greene, Green Bay’s new outside linebackers coach, was one of Capers' rush linebackers in Pittsburgh and in Carolina. Greene was a training-camp volunteer in Pittsburgh last summer and I watched him work closely with outside backer LaMarr Woodley, who had a breakout season in 2008. Greene knows what it takes to get to the quarterback from that position.

His bull rush, which he helped teach Woodley, will help Kampman a lot. Greene's work with Kampman will be critical to the success of the transition. The other critical part will be how well rookie B.J. Raji handles the nose. The Packers took him with the ninth pick in the first round to help plug up the run defense. If Raji plays nose, it means Ryan Pickett can move outside to an end, although Capers said they will each play both positions.

"We have some flexibility," Capers said.

The Packers haven't used the 3-4 as a base defense since 1993. Back then, a lot of teams used the 3-4 fronts. But when the Dallas Cowboys and Jimmy Johnson started winning Super Bowls with the 4-3, things changed.

Copycats, remember?

The 3-4 faded away some as a base defense, but it's back in full force now. There could be 12 teams using the 3-4 in 2009, but only three of them are in the NFC and the Packers will be the only team using it in the NFC North.

"It all goes in cycles," Capers said.

The conventional thinking a decade ago was that the defense was figured out. Quick timing passes, many felt, would take away the edge of the defense. Some thought spread passing games also helped give the offense an edge.

But defenses have adjusted by becoming faster and smaller. The big power ends of the old 3-4 are now more athletic and can rush the passer. The outside rushers are faster and the safeties can run better than some of those before them.

It's called evolution. Capers had also done some tweaking and will continue to do so in Green Bay. He knows a lot of die-hard Packers fans will be watching his every move. He also knows if he helps turn that defense around, maybe a third head-coaching job could come his way.

"It has to be the right situation," he said. "I don't have an overwhelming need to do it just to do it. But I won't say I won't do it if the right job came open. I'm excited to be here and taking part in this transition. It's a challenge, but I'm looking forward to it."

If he turns this defense around, Green Bay will be a playoff team in 2009.