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February 21, 2008

Patriots announce coaching changes, hire Capers

New England has announced changes to its coaching staff: longtime coach Dom Capers has been brought on as a special assistant/secondary, Bill O'Brien was promoted to receivers coach from offensive assistant, and former receivers coach Nick Caserio has moved back into the front office as director of player personnel.

Left unsaid in the release is that former secondary coach Joel Collier has been let go.

Capers, who has spent 22 years in the NFL, was most recently the defensive coordinator in Miami for the last two seasons.

Speaking about Capers, who has served as head coach of the Panthers and Texans, Bill Belichick said, “I have known Dom for a long time and respect him tremendously as a coach, particularly defensively. To add a coach of his caliber is an outstanding opportunity for us. I look forward to getting to work with Dom and (defensive coordinator) Dean [Pees] immediately.”

Caserio spent last season as receivers coach, but must have decided that he prefers the front office; from 2004-06, he served as New England's director of pro personnel, and the year before that, he was an area scout. In his first season with the team, 2002, Caserio was an offensive coaching assistant.

He is a former college teammate of offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels at John Carroll University.

O'Brien, a Brown alum, left Duke before last season to join Belichick's staff as an offensive assistant. He will take Caserio's role as receivers coach.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 6:51 PM | Permalink