Kealilhaaheo Brian David Cabral (born June 23, 1956) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and former player. He stood in as the interim head football coach for three games at the

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sys ...

in 2010. Cabral played professionally as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) with the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

, the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

, and the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

. He won a

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

as a member of the 1985 Chicago Bears.

College playing career

Cabral lettered three seasons for Colorado at linebacker from 1975 to 1977 under Coach

Bill Mallory William Guy Mallory (May 30, 1935 – May 25, 2018) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Miami University (1969–1973), the University of Colorado at Boulder (1974–1978), Northern Illinois Universi ...

, as he was a captain and played a big role on The Buffaloes' Big Eight champion team in 1976. He led Colorado with 13 tackles (12 solo) in the

1977 Orange Bowl The 1977 Orange Bowl was the 43rd edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Saturday, January 1. Part of the 1976–77 bowl game season, it matched the eleventh-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes of t ...

against

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

. As a senior, he was honored as the Big Eight Conference's player of the week for a monster 25 tackles in a CU 27-21 win over

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

and shared the team's Sure Tackler Award with

Mark Haynes Mark Haynes (born November 6, 1958) is a former American football cornerback in the National Football League who played for the New York Giants and the Denver Broncos from 1980 until 1989.''NFL.com''"Mark Haynes, DB" Retrieved on May 14, 2013 ...

. That 25-tackle game included 13 solo stops and is still tied for the fourth most in a single game in Colorado team history.

NFL career

Cabral was a nine-year

veteran, being drafted by the

in the fourth round of the

1978 NFL Draft The 1978 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 2–3, 1978, at the Roosevelt Hote ...

. He played two seasons with Atlanta, one with Green Bay and six with

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. As the captain of the Bears' special teams, he was a member of Chicago's

Super Bowl XX Super Bowl XX was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...

championship team in 1985.

Coaching career

Following his NFL career, Cabral became the inside linebackers coach at

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

for two seasons. In 1989, Cabral came back to Colorado and tutored the inside linebackers his first year as a graduate assistant. Cabral assumed full-time duties in the same capacity in 1990, and would remain in that capacity for two decades under

Bill McCartney William Paul McCartney (born August 22, 1940) is a former American football player and coach and the founder of the Promise Keepers men's ministry. He was the head coach at the University of Colorado Boulder for thirteen seasons (1982–1994), ...

Rick Neuheisel Richard Gerald Neuheisel Jr. (; born February 7, 1961) is an American football analyst, coach, former player, and attorney. He served as the head football coach at the University of Colorado Boulder from 1995 to 1999, at the University of Washi ...

Gary Barnett Gary Lee Barnett (born May 23, 1946) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Fort Lewis College (1982–1983), Northwestern University (1992–1998), and the University of Colorado at Boulder (1999–2005), ...

Dan Hawkins Danny Clarence Hawkins (born November 10, 1960) is an American football coach at UC Davis. A former player and sportscaster, he served as the head football coach at Willamette University (1993–1997), Boise State University (2001–2005), and ...

and

Jon Embree Jon William Embree (born October 15, 1965) is an American football coach and former player who is the Assistant Head coach & tight ends coach for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He is a former head coach at Colorado. Pr ...

. From 1999 through 2005, he also coached the punt return unit on special teams, and served as the director of Colorado's summer football camps from 1995 through 2005 and for a brief time as recruiting coordinator. Known as one of the top linebacker coaches in the nation, his students have included

Matt Russell Matthew Jason Russell (born July 5, 1973) is an American football executive who currently serves as a Senior Personnel Executive for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League. He formerly served as the Director of Player Personne ...

, the 1996

Butkus Award The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...

winner, all-Big Eight performers

Greg Biekert Gregory Biekert (born March 14, 1969) is an American football coach and former linebacker. Biekert attended Longs Peak Middle School and Longmont High School in Longmont, Colorado, where he lettered in football. He was a standout linebacker for t ...

, Chad Brown and

Ted Johnson Ted Curtis Johnson (born December 4, 1972) is a former American football player in the National Football League (NFL). He grew up in Carlsbad, California where he graduated from Carlsbad High School in 1991. From there he attended the Universit ...

, all of whom went on to stardom in the National Football League, and all-

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its fo ...

linebacker

Jordon Dizon Jordon Dizon (born January 16, 1986) is a retired American football linebacker who currently serves as a National Scout for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League. He last played for the Detroit Lions of the National Football Le ...

, a consensus All-American who was also the league defensive player of the year for 2007. He also recruited tailback

Rashaan Salaam Rashaan Iman Salaam (October 8, 1974 – December 5, 2016) was an American college and professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons during the 1990s. Salaam played college football ...

, the 1994

Heisman trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

winner, and

Chris Naeole Christopher Kealoha Naeole (; born December 25, 1974) is a former American football coach and player. He played college football as an offensive guard for the University of Colorado, where he was recognized as an All-American in 1996 and was dra ...

, a 1996 All-American guard. Hawkins promoted him to assistant head coach on February 7, 2008. Hawkins cited his leadership, noting that "no one person has had more influence in the success of Colorado football than Brian Cabral." Cabral's 21 years as a full-time assistant rank as the most in Colorado athletic history, not only for football but for all sports sponsored by the University. Cabral has served twice as interim head coach for the Buffaloes. His first stint was a three-month period in 2004 before the start of the season when Head Coach

was placed on paid administrative leave. In that role, he continued to coach his position players but also took care of day-to-day operational details of the program. On November 9, 2010, Cabral was again named interim head coach when

was fired. He won his initial game as interim head coach against Iowa State after Hawkins firing, with Hawkins' son having his best game of the season. In 2013, Cabral became associate head coach and defensive coordinator at

Indiana State Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified among "D/PU: Doctor ...

Personal life

Cabral grew up in

Kailua, Hawaii Kailua () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States. It lies in the Koolaupoko District of the island of Oahu on the windward coast at Kailua Bay. It is in the judicial district and the ahupua'a named Ko'ol ...

and remains involved in recruiting efforts in Hawaii for the Buffaloes. Cabral has worked youth camps in the state as well as all-Polynesian camps in the continental U.S. He is a founding board member of the Polynesian Coaches Association. Cabral earned a B.S. degree in therapeutic recreation from Colorado in 1978.

Head coaching record

^‡ Named interim head coach on November 9

References

External links

Colorado profile

Indiana State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cabral, Brian 1956 births Living people American football linebackers Atlanta Falcons players Chicago Bears players Colorado Buffaloes football players Colorado Buffaloes football coaches Green Bay Packers players Indiana State Sycamores football coaches Purdue Boilermakers football coaches Sportspeople from Honolulu Players of American football from Honolulu