Well-connected staff bodes well for first chapter of Larry Fedora's Tar Heel story.
Chris Kapilovic (pronounced kuh-PILL-o-vick) enters his first season as Carolina's run game coordinator and offensive line coach after four years in a similar capacity at Southern Miss under head coach Larry Fedora.
In three of Kapilovic's four years in Hattiesburg, Southern Miss set the school record for total offense, including a mark of 6,459 yards in 2011. Under his direction, the offensive line helped the Golden Eagles reach the 5,000-yard mark in total offense in all four seasons. Kapilovic and company broke the previous total offense record of 5,894 they set in 2010. It was also the fifth-straight year Southern Miss had rushed for more than 2,000 yards.
In 2011, Southern Miss won the Conference USA championship over previously unbeaten Houston and then won its school-record 12th game of the year by beating Nevada in the Hawaii Bowl.
Kapilovic was promoted to run game coordinator in 2010, and in each of his two seasons in that capacity Southern Miss rushed for more than 200 yards per game. In 2011, USM was one of just 11 FBS programs that averaged more than 200 yards per game in both rushing and passing. Three Southern Miss offensive linemen were named All-CUSA in 2011, including first-team performer Lamar Holmes.
Kapilovic came to Southern Miss after spending two seasons as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator at his alma mater, Missouri State. The Bears ranked No. 24 nationally in total offense (414.3), No. 25 in rushing offense (202.9) and No. 10 in scoring offense (36.3) in 2007.
Prior to his stint in Springfield, Kapilovic worked with the offensive line as an assistant coach for five years at Alabama State. He also had offensive coordinator duties for the Hornets in his last three seasons. ASU led the league in rushing yards in two of his final three seasons and the Hornets averaged over 32 points per game during his time of sharing offensive coordinator duties.
The Hornets finished No. 16 nationally in total offense in 2004 and No. 9 in 2005 and led the SWAC in fewest sacks allowed in 2004.
Several offensive linemen Kapilovic has coached have gone on to the NFL and former Alabama State quarterback Tavaris Jackson was a second-round pick by the Minnesota Vikings in 2006.
Kapilovic started his coaching career as a student assistant at Missouri State. After leaving MSU, Kapilovic spent time as offensive coordinator at Deer Valley High in Glendale, Ariz., as offensive line and strength coach at Phoenix College and as a graduate assistant coach for the offensive line at the University of Kansas.
As a player, Kapilovic lettered for two seasons, 1989 and 1990, for the Bears and was a member of the school's only Gateway Conference championship teams those two seasons as they also made their only appearances in the Division I-AA playoffs those years. He was a starter and Gateway first-team selection during his senior campaign in 1990. He also played two seasons at Scottsdale (Ariz.) Community College.
Kapilovic and wife Fiona, have two children, Carsen and Colin.
