MINNEAPOLIS _ Dom Capers, a former head coach of the Panthers and Texans, will join the Vikings staff as a senior defensive assistant.
The 69-year-old Capers is a familiar face in the NFC North _ he was the Packers defensive coordinator from 2009-17, including their Super Bowl XLV title following the 2010 season.
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer, who calls the defensive plays, recently promoted linebackers coach Adam Zimmer and defensive line coach Andre Patterson to co-defensive coordinators. They replaced George Edwards, whose contract expired.
Capers has coached in the NFL for 33 seasons, and was Jacksonville's senior defensive assistant last season.
He was head coach of expansion Carolina from 1995-98 and expansion Houston from 2001-05. He also has been defensive coordinator for the Steelers (1992-94), the Jaguars (1999-2000) and the Dolphins (2006-07).
As an expansion team, the Panthers were 7-9 in 1995 before going 12-4 in the second season and losing to the Packers in the NFC Championship Game. Capers was fired after a 4-12 season in 1998.
He was named head coach of the Texans for their first season, 2001, but went 18-46 in four seasons before he was let go. Gary Kubiak, the Vikings new offensive coordinator, succeeded Capers as head coach in Houston and led the Texans for the next eight years.
After a college playing career at Mount Union, Capers was an assistant coach at Kent State, Washington, Hawaii, San Jose State, Cal, Tennessee and Ohio State. He coached in the USFL with Philadelphia and Baltimore before beginning his NFL career as defensive backs coach for New Orleans in 1986. He coached New England's secondary in 2008.
