Chris Kapilovic - Football Coach - Michigan State University Athletics

Chris Kapilovic

Title:
Asst. Head Coach/Offensive Line Coach/Run Game Coordinator
Email:
football@msu.edu
Phone Number:
355-1647

Chris Kapilovic enters his fourth season as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator at Michigan State. He was promoted to assistant head coach in January 2021.

Kapilovic (pronounced kuh-pill-oh-vick), 54, joined Tucker's staff in East Lansing in February 2020 after spending the 2019 season as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator in Colorado. Kapilovic has more than 30 years of coaching experience, including roles as an offensive coordinator and/or run game coordinator at Southern Mississippi (2008-11), North Carolina (2012-18), Colorado (2019) and Michigan State (2020-present). He has coached multiple NFL players, first-round draft picks and record-setting offenses during his career.

Kapilovic has also been instrumental in recruiting several highly regarded offensive linemen to East Lansing. In Mel Tucker’s initial recruiting class, Kapilovic helped sign four-star prospect Geno VanDeMark, the No. 1 offensive lineman in the state of New Jersey. In MSU’s most recent class, Kapilovic signed three four-star prospects, including top-100 player and Under Armour All-American Stanton Ramil (6-7, 310, Alabaster, Ala.), Cole Dellinger (6-4, 290, Clarkston, Mich.), and junior college All-American Keyshawn Blackstock (6-5, 315, Covington, Ga.).

Two Spartans, left guard J.D. Duplain and center Nick Samac, earned honorable mention All-Big Ten accolades in 2022 as the Spartans ranked fourth in the Big Ten and 34^th in the FBS in allowing just 1.5 sacks per game.

Kapilovic’s offensive line was a key ingredient to Michigan State’s school-record turnaround season in 2021 in which the Spartans finished 11-2 overall, won the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl over No. 12 Pittsburgh, and finished ranked No. 8 (coaches) and No. 9 (AP) in the national polls. The o-line helped pave the way for Doak Walker Award winner, Walter Camp Player of the Year, Big Ten Running Back of the Year and unanimous All-American Kenneth Walker III, who led the Big Ten and ranked No. 2 in the FBS with 1,636 rushing yards (136.3 ypg) to go along with his 18 rushing touchdowns. In addition to blocking for Walker, the Spartans allowed just 1.62 sacks per game, fourth fewest in the Big Ten and 27th in the FBS. The Spartan offensive line was named one of 13 semifinalists for the Joe Moore Award, which is given annually to the nation’s top offensive line.

Following the 2021 season, offensive tackle AJ Arcuri was selected in the seventh round of the NFL Draft by the defending Super Bowl Champion Los Angeles Rams, guard/tackle Kevin Jarvis signed as an undrafted free agent with the Detroit Lions, and center Matt Allen was invited to the New York Giants rookie minicamp. Arcuri played in the final eight games of the 2022 NFL season for the Rams and Jarvis enters the 2023 season on the Bills roster.

During Kapilovic’s one season at Colorado in 2019, the Buffaloes allowed the third-fewest sacks in the Pac-12 (1.75 pg), and graduate transfer Arlington Hambright earned honorable mention all-conference honors in his lone season in Boulder under the tutelage of Kapilovic and was selected in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears.

Prior to Colorado, Kapilovic coached the offensive line for seven seasons at North Carolina (2012-18) for head coach Larry Fedora. Kapilovic served as the run game coordinator for the Tar Heels his first two seasons (2012-13), was promoted to co-offensive coordinator for the next two years (2014-15), and was the associate head coach and offensive coordinator his final three seasons (2016-18).

In his seven seasons at UNC, Kapilovic was part of an offensive unit that established numerous school records, including points per game (40.6 ppg in 2012, 40.7 in 2015) and total offense (485.6 ypg in 2012, 486.9 ypg in 2015). The Tar Heels ranked No. 8 in the FBS in scoring offense in 2012 and No. 9 in 2015. UNC also set school records for most passing yards for five straight years (2012-16), peaking at 293.2 yards per game in 2016. The 2018 squad allowed just 10 sacks all season, the fourth fewest in the FBS, and the 0.91 sacks allowed per game ranked seventh best.

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 in the Sun Bowl against Stanford. Trubisky was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft and started 50 games for the Bears from 2017-20; he was one of 10 Tar Heels to either be drafted or signed by an NFL team under Kapilovic.

During the 2015 season, North Carolina posted an 11-3 record and won the ACC Coastal Division with a perfect 8-0 league record to finish at No. 15 in the national polls. The Tar Heels led the nation in yards per play (7.28) and were ninth in scoring offense, averaging 40.7 points per game. Kapilovic's offensive line was named a semifinalist for the 2015 Joe Moore Award, which is awarded annually to the nation's best offensive line. Tailback Elijah Hood rushed for 1,453 yards, North 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 16 in 14 games.

In his first season at UNC (2012), three Tar Heel offensive linemen were drafted, led by guard Jonathan Cooper (No. 7 overall by Arizona), along with tackle Brennan Williams (third round by Houston) and guard Travis Bond (seventh round by Minnesota).

Kapilovic 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.

At Southern Mississippi (2008-11), his offensive lines paved the way for school records for total offense three times, with a high of 6,459 in his final season there (the Golden Eagles gained over 5,000 in all four seasons, including over 2,000 rushing yards each year). After run game coordinator was added to his offensive line duties in 2010, the next year, USM won the Conference USA championship by defeating Houston, 49-28, in the league title game. A 24-17 win over Nevada in the Hawai'i Bowl gave USM a 12-2 final record and a No. 20 national ranking for the 2011 season.

After working as a student assistant coach at his alma mater, Missouri State, in 1991, Kapilovic started his professional coaching career at Deer Valley High School in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb northwest of Phoenix. He spent six seasons there as the school's offensive line coach, and then moved over to Phoenix College where he worked with the offensive line and also served as the school's strength coach.

Kapilovic worked as a graduate assistant at Kansas under coach Terry Allen for the 1999 and 2000 seasons. His first full-time job in the collegiate ranks soon followed, as he was the offensive line coach for Alabama State the next two years (2001-02), with offensive coordinator duties added to his role for the Hornets for his final three seasons there (2003-05). He returned to Missouri State for a second stint, this time as its run game coordinator and the offensive line coach for the 2006-07 seasons.

Kapilovic lettered two years (1989-90) as an offensive tackle at Missouri State University, earning first-team All-Gateway Conference honors as a senior. The Bears were 19-6 his two seasons on the squad, winning the Gateway Conference title both seasons and qualifying for the Division I-AA playoffs. Missouri State finished ninth in the final I-AA poll in 1989, and sixth in the 1990 final balloting. He graduated from Missouri State with a degree in education in 1990. He played two seasons at Scottsdale (Ariz.) Community College prior to transferring to Missouri State.

Kapilovic was born Nov. 11, 1968, in Cleveland, Ohio, and graduated from Gerard Catholic High School in Phoenix, Arizona, where he lettered in football, basketball and baseball. He is married to the former Fiona Yount, and the couple has two sons, Carsen and Colin.

THE CHRIS KAPILOVIC FILE

FAMILY: Wife, Fiona, and two sons, Carsen and Colin.

YEARS AT MICHIGAN STATE: Fourth. Joined staff on Feb. 17, 2020, from Colorado.

PREVIOUS COACHING EXPERIENCE: Offensive line coach at Deer Valley (Ariz.) High School (1992-97); Offensive line coach at Phoenix College (1998); Graduate assistant at Kansas (1999-2000); Offensive line coach at Alabama State (2001-02); Offensive coordinator/offensive line coach at Alabama State (2003-05); Offensive line coach/run game coordinator at Missouri State (2006-07); Offensive line coach at Southern Mississippi (2008-09); Offensive line coach/run game coordinator at Southern Mississippi (2010-11); Offensive line coach/run game coordinator at North Carolina (2012-13); Co-offensive coordinator/offensive line at North Carolina (2014-15); Offensive coordinator/offensive line at North Carolina (2016-18); Offensive line coach/run game coordinator at Colorado (2019).

EDUCATION: Bachelor’s degree in education in 1990 from Missouri State.

PLAYING EXPERIENCE: College – Two-year letterwinner as an offensive tackle at Missouri State University from 1989-90. Played two seasons at Scottsdale Community College prior to attending Missouri State.

POSTSEASON EXPERIENCE: Player – 1989-90 Division I-AA Playoffs. Coach – 2008 New Orleans Bowl, 2009 New Orleans Bowl, 2010 Beef O’Brady’s Bowl, 2011 Hawai’i Bowl, 2013 Belk Bowl, 2014 Quick Lane Bowl, 2015 Russell Athletic Bowl, 2016 Sun Bowl, 2021 Peach Bowl.