HOUSTON -- The worst season in Houston Texans history cost Dom Capers his job.
Owner Bob McNair fired the only coach the expansion Texans ever
had Monday, a day after Houston finished its season with an
NFL-worst 2-14 record.
"I'm totally committed to producing a winning team and I'm
going to do everything within my power to see that we do that,"
McNair said. "I think that we're very close to being a good team,
but we have work to do."
The Texans, who hired former NFL coach Dan Reeves as a
consultant last month, will keep general manager Charley Casserly.
On Monday, McNair reiterated his assertion that Reeves is not a
candidate to be the next coach.
Houston's season ended Sunday with a 20-17 overtime loss in San
Francisco that gave the Texans the worst mark in their four-year
history and the No. 1 pick in April's draft.
"I think that we've underachieved this season," McNair said. "I think that everyone expected us to do more."
Capers had one year remaining on a five-year contract worth $9.5 million.
"I understand the job as the head football coach is to win
games," Capers said. "But when you put your heart and soul into
something and it doesn't work the way you want it or anticipate it
to, it's disappointing."
The firing marks the second time the 55-year-old Capers has been
released from an expansion team in its fourth season. He was let go
by the Carolina Panthers in 1998.
His plan for building the team worked well until this season.
The Texans won seven games last season after winning five in 2003
and four in their first season. Houston stunned Dallas in the
franchise's first game in 2002.
Capers informed the team of his firing in a meeting several
hours before McNair made the official announcement.
"It was emotional; it was difficult," offensive lineman Steve McKinney said of the morning meeting. "I felt sorry for him."
Veteran defensive end Gary Walker said he is sad to see Capers
go, but isn't worried about the future of his former coach.
"Dom will have another job within a month," Walker said.
"He'll be a defensive coordinator somewhere. With the right people
around him, he could do some amazing things."
Houston opened this season 0-6 before beating Cleveland, then
losing six more. The Texans defeated Arizona and then lost their
last two games.
McNair said he decided to keep Casserly because after looking at
draft picks and other personnel decisions he thought that "we made
a lot more good decisions than bad decisions."
Capers was hailed as an expansion wizard after leading Carolina
to seven wins in its first season and the NFC title game in the
team's second year in 1996, when he was NFL Coach of the Year.
Things went downhill from there, and Capers was fired after the
Panthers went 4-12 in 1998. He worked for two years as defensive
coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars before he was hired by the
Texans in January 2001.
"You have to be careful and stay with your step-by-step
program," Capers said at the time. "Then, you have to have the
courage to stick with it and not sacrifice the future for the quick
fix."
His first pro job came when he joined Jim Mora's staff with
Philadelphia in the USFL. Capers made it to the NFL in 1986 when he
went with Mora to New Orleans. He became defensive coordinator at
Pittsburgh in 1992 before he was hired in Carolina in 1995.
McNair said when he hired Reeves he wanted an outside voice to
evaluate the organization. Reeves went to four Super Bowls in 23
seasons as a head coach, mostly recently with Atlanta after the
1998 season.
McNair said that he's asked permission to interview several
people and he hopes to have the interviews concluded by the end of
this month.
Denver coach Mike Shanahan said the Texans owner contacted him
Monday for permission to interview Broncos offensive coordinator
Gary Kubiak. Kubiak played quarterback at Texas A&M, where he later
served as an assistant coach.
Kubiak is hot again, though, thanks to Denver's 13-3 record and an offense ranked fifth in the NFL. And the number of openings helps his cause in attempting to take the next step as a head coach.
"If [teams are] smart, he'll get one of those jobs," Shanahan said. "I'm just hoping they're not smart enough to hire him."
Kubiak was not immediately available for comment.