If you start making predictions, you end up stubbing your toe. A year later, when the team vaulted over the 49ers to take the NFC West title and then beat the defending champ Cowboys in the Panthers' first playoff game, Capers was voted NFL Coach of the Year. In their third season, the Panthers fell back to 7-9, and the coach became a mere human. Then in 1998, Carolina sputtered to a miserable 4-12 record. Carolina fans called for Capers's head, and the front office obligingly served it up.
Capers makes a lot of coded comments about how quality comes from the top down.
He praises the support he enjoys from the head office of the Texans. Time will tell exactly how unwavering that support really is. But for now, angry fans, fickle management and sullen players are all just a bad dream. It's a warm February day, we're eating succulent barbecue, and the future looks as promising as an uncut buttermilk pie. You just have to set a high standard and stick to it.