BOULDER — University of Colorado head football coach Mel Tucker announced two additional hires to his initial Buffalo staff, filling the offensive and defensive line coaching positions.
Chris Kapilovic (pronounced kuh-pil-oh-vick) will coach the offensive line and also serve as the run game coordinator, while Jimmy Brumbaugh will tutor the defensive linemen.
Kapilovic, 50, comes to CU from the University of North Carolina, where he spent the previous seven seasons (2012-18) coaching the offensive line under head coach Larry Fedora. He was also its run game coordinator his first two seasons there, and then was the co-offensive coordinator for the 2014 and 2015 seasons. For his last three seasons on the Tar Heel staff, he was the associate head coach and offensive coordinator along with his offensive line coaching duties.
He was previously hired by Fedora in 2008 when he took the head coaching job at Southern Mississippi. He was at USM for four seasons (2008-11), all four as the offensive line coach with additional duties as the run game coordinator his last two years there before moving on to North Carolina and joining Fedora’s staff in Chapel Hill.
In his seven seasons at UNC, he was part of an offensive unit that established over 60 school records, including points per game (2012, 2014), total offense (2012, 2014), passing yards (2012-13-14-15-16) and first downs (2014-15). North Carolina averaged more than 170 rushing yards per game from 2012 through 2016, the highest five-year average for the Tar Heels since Mack Brown was their head coach some two decades earlier. The 2018 squad allowed just 10 sacks all season, the .91 per game figure seventh best in the nation while the team also averaged 193 rushing yards per game (5.3 per carry) and a healthy 442.1 yards per game, 35th best nationally.
In 2016, Kapilovic’s offense, led by quarterback Mitch Trubisky, set the school passing yards mark for the fifth season in a row, as UNC won eight games and earned a berth opposite Stanford in the Sun Bowl. Trubisky was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft and is currently starring for the Chicago Bears; he was one of 10 Tar Heels to either be drafted or signed by an NFL team.
That came on the heels of an 11-win season in 2015, with UNC winning the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Coastal Division with a perfect 8-0 record and finishing the year with a No. 15 ranking in the national polls; the Tar Heels led the nation in yards per play and was ninth in scoring offense, averaging 40.7 points per game. UNC ascended all the way to No. 8 in the nation before bowing to No. 1 and eventual national runner-up Clemson, 45-37, in the ACC title game. The Tar Heels were a semifinalist for the 2015 Joe Moore Award, a new trophy which was created to recognize the entire offensive line. Tailback Elijah Hood rushed for 1,453 yards, Carolina averaged a school record 6.0 yards per carry and ranked first in the ACC in the least number of sacks allowed with just 15 in 13 games.
A 1990 Missouri State graduate, Kapilovic has also coached at Southern Mississippi, Alabama State, Kansas and his alma mater.
“Kap is a veteran coach who has a great reputation for developing cohesive offensive lines,” Tucker said. “He had several great lines at North Carolina that were the backbone of some prolific offenses. He’s an outstanding recruiter, has high character and is a great family man. He came highly recommended from Andy Heck, who I coached with in the NFL with Jacksonville – Kap coached both of his boys.” (Heck is currently the offensive line coach for the Kansas City Chiefs.)
Brumbaugh, 42, joins the CU staff from the University of Maryland, where he had served as the co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach for the previous two seasons. He had spent the prior four seasons at the University of Kentucky (2013-16), establishing himself as one of the top defensive line coaches in the country. He has also served as an assistant coach at Louisiana State, Louisiana Tech and Syracuse.
While serving as defensive line coach at Kentucky, he developed a pair of 2015 NFL draft picks. Bud Dupree was a first round selection by the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Za’Darius Smith, who Brumbaugh coached in junior college, was chosen in the fourth round by the Baltimore Ravens. Overall, four defensive linemen earned All-SEC honors during his tenure with the Wildcats. In addition, Louisiana Tech’s D’Anthony Smith was drafted in the third round by Jacksonville in 2010.
He had moved on to Kentucky from Syracuse, where he coached defensive tackles in 2011 and the defensive line in 2010. The Orange defense showed drastic improvements under Brumbaugh in 2010, moving from 81st to 17th nationally in scoring defense, and from 37th to seventh in total defense. Prior to Syracuse, Brumbaugh coached the defensive line at Louisiana Tech in 2008 and 2009. He took over a defensive front that ranked 46th nationally against the rush in 2007 and moved that ranking to 13th at the conclusion of 2008.
In 2012, Brumbaugh was at East Mississippi Community College, where he was in charge of the defensive line and also was the strength and conditioning coordinator. He also has extensive experience in strength and conditioning, working two seasons (2006-07) as an assistant strength and conditioning coordinator at Louisiana State. Under Coach Les Miles, LSU was the 2007 national champion, defeating Ohio State, 38-24, in the BCS title game in New Orleans. While with LSU, Brumbaugh helped produce 12 NFL draft selections, including five first round picks.
A 2004 graduate of Auburn, he lettered four years as a defensive lineman for the Tigers, playing both the nose and outside tackle positions, from 1995-99. He signed as free agent and was in preseason camp with the San Francisco 49ers in 2000. He went on to play in the XFL with the Birmingham Bolts and then in arena football with the Georgia Force and Birmingham Steel Dogs. He returned to Auburn after his pro career to finish up his degree, and then decided to get into coaching, starting out as a student assistant for Jacksonville (Ala.) State, with his first full-time position followed the next year as the defensive line coach at Tennessee-Chattanooga.
“Jimmy is a Pete Jenkins disciple,” Tucker said. “Tremendous character, a real team guy who is an excellent teacher of technique and fundamentals. He’s a proven developer of talent and a tenacious recruiter.” Jenkins was a veteran coach of 54 seasons, 22 in the Southeastern Conference, and was Brumbaugh’s position coach at Auburn.
Tucker has now filled seven of the 10 assistant coaching positions, as he has hired four coaches new to Colorado while retaining three from Mike MacIntyre’s staff. He plans to fill the other three vacancies over the holidays and have a full staff intact by early January.
