Virginia Commonwealth University Capel began his coaching career serving as an assistant coach under his father, Jeff Capel II, at
Old Dominion University for the 2000–2001 season. In 2001, he joined the coaching staff of
Virginia Commonwealth University as an assistant. He was promoted to head coach of the
Rams for the 2002–2003 season—making him, at the time, the youngest head coach in Division I men's college basketball (27 years old). In his four years as head coach at VCU, Capel guided the
Rams to a record number of wins (79) and the highest winning percentage (.658) of any Division I program in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Following the 2003–04 season, Capel was named both the Richmond Times-Dispatch and VaSID state Coach of the Year after leading the Rams to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1996. Coaching highlights include a near-upset of
Wake Forest in the 2004 NCAA Tournament. Surprisingly, one of his toughest opponents was the Division II crosstown rival,
Virginia Union University. Capel's Rams lost two years in a row to the Panthers on VCU's home court. However, he did lead the Rams to a 7–3 record against CAA rival, and former employer, Old Dominion. In 2005, Capel was named an assistant coach in the USA Men's World University Games Team, joining then Manhattan head coach
Bobby Gonzalez in assisting
Villanova head coach
Jay Wright. The United States won the gold medal in
İzmir,
Turkey, in August.
University of Oklahoma On April 11, 2006, Capel was named the head coach of the
Oklahoma men's basketball team, succeeding
Kelvin Sampson. Though the
Sooner Nation as a whole greeted Capel's hiring with optimism, one notable downside of the coaching change emerged—Sampson's departure caused three players who had signed with OU (once considered a top 5 recruiting class) to rethink their decisions to attend OU.
Scottie Reynolds went on to Villanova, where he led his team to the NCAA tournament and
Damion James was a key part to a Texas team which was defeated by Southern California in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
2006–07 In his first year as head coach, the Sooners finished 16–15. After going 9–4 in non-conference games, with losses to
Memphis,
Purdue,
Villanova, and
Alabama, the Sooners started a promising 6–3 in conference play, before losing their final 7 conference games. After winning only one game in the
Big 12 Conference tournament, losing to eventual conference tournament champion
Kansas, this caused the Sooners to miss any form of postseason play, which snapped the nation's longest streak of 23 consecutive years in the postseason, starting with
Billy Tubbs' second year in 1982 and ending with Kelvin Sampson's final year in 2006.
2007–08 In his second year, after signing McDonald's All-American Forward
Blake Griffin, the Sooners showed vast signs of improvement and finished 21–10 during the regular season (9–7 in Big 12 play) earning them a #4 seed in the
Big 12 tournament, where they won one game before losing to
Texas in the semi-finals. They received a #6 seed in the
NCAA tournament, where they defeated
St. Joseph's in the first round before losing to #3 seed
Louisville in the second round.
2008–09 Player of the Year Candidate Blake Griffin announced he would be returning for his sophomore season, forgoing a possible lottery-pick status in the
NBA draft. Coupled with the signing of another
McDonald's All-American guard in
Willie Warren, the
2008–09 season looked to be promising. The team experienced one of the best starts in school history at 25–1, until Blake Griffin was sidelined with a concussion during the first half of the OU-Texas game on February 21. The Sooners went on to lose consecutive games for the first time all season, losing to
Texas by 5 in
Austin and
Kansas by 9 in
Norman. Without their star player, the Sooners fell short. Griffin returned to the lineup a week later and the Sooners returned to their winning ways defeating
Texas Tech by 15 in
Lubbock on February 28, before losing on the road to
Missouri and finishing the regular season by sweeping in-state rival
Oklahoma State. After a first-round bye in the
Big 12 tournament, the #2 seeded Sooners lost to the #7 seeded Cowboys by 1 point during the final seconds of the game. Capel's Sooners were granted a #2 seed for the NCAA Tournament, and easily beat #15 seed
Morgan State in the first round, #10 seed
Michigan in the second round, and #3 seed
Syracuse in the Sweet 16, whose vaunted 2–3 zone defense did nothing to slow down the Sooner's hot shooting from the perimeter. However, after hitting nine 3-pointers during the previous game with Syracuse, the Sooner guards went 0–15 from beyond the arc during the first 35 minutes of their Elite 8 game against
North Carolina, before finally finishing 2–19 in the game. This ultimately led to their demise by the Tar Heels on March 29, losing 60–72.
Blake Griffin, announced he would forgo his final two years of eligibility to enter the
NBA draft. He was drafted #1 overall by the Los Angeles Clippers and was the University of Oklahoma's first #1 draft pick in the NBA.
2009–10 Entering his fourth year, Capel's record at OU was 69–33 (0.676) overall, 28–20 (0.583) conference, with 2 NCAA Tournament Appearances, and one Elite Eight appearance. In the Big 12, Capel had yet to win a Conference tournament Title or Regular Season Title. Capel was averaging 21 wins per season (21–12) and 8 conference wins per season (8–8), almost on track with his predecessors Tubbs & Sampson. With the return of McDonald's All-American and projected NBA Lottery Pick
Willie Warren, and the addition of two more McDonald's All-American recruits in Tommie Mason-Griffin &
Tiny Gallon, the Sooners were ranked #13 in the pre-season AP Poll and picked to finish 3rd in the Big 12 Conference. Unfortunately, injuries and off-court issues plagued the Sooners and the team failed to live up to expectations. Capel led Oklahoma to a 13–18 record in the 2009–10 season (all 13 wins were later vacated due to use of an ineligible player), the first losing season at Oklahoma since 1981. The Sooners ended the season with nine straight losses, the longest losing streak at Oklahoma in 41 years.
2010–11 In April 2010, Oklahoma announced the resignation of Capel's assistant Oronde Taliaferro without specifying the reason. There was speculation that it might be related to media reports that Tiny Gallon had received an impermissible extra benefit from Merrill Lynch employee and this was confirmed when subsequently released phone records tied him and Taliaferro and the NCAA confirmed it was investigating. Five underclassmen left the program in the offseason and Capel was forced to play mostly unheralded leftovers and newcomers. Oklahoma went 14–18, attendance dropped significantly, and Capel was fired in March 2011 after two of the worst back-to-back losing seasons in Oklahoma basketball history. While enjoying a 30-win season and an Elite 8 appearance, Capel's tenure at Oklahoma is generally regarded by Sooner fans as a disappointment. In August 2011, Oklahoma admitted that Taliaferro had committed 2 NCAA violations in the Gallon case; Capel was not implicated in the violations.
Duke University On May 8, 2011, it was announced that Jeff Capel would be joining the staff of
Mike Krzyzewski at his
alma mater,
Duke University, as an assistant coach. In April 2014, Capel was promoted by Krzyzewski to associate head coach. On February 2, 2016, Jeff Capel stepped in as head coach for Duke University for one game versus Georgia Tech, due to an illness to Mike Kryzewski, and guided Duke to an 80–71 victory. In January 2017, Capel served as Duke's Acting Head Coach, filling in for Krzyzewski who underwent back surgery.
University of Pittsburgh On March 27, 2018, the
University of Pittsburgh announced the hiring of Capel to be the 16th head coach of their men's basketball program. Capel replaced former head coach
Kevin Stallings, who led the Panthers to an 0–18
Atlantic Coast Conference record in 2017–18. On March 6, 2023, Jeff Capel won the
Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball Coach of the Year award after leading Pitt to a 21–10 record with 14 conference wins. ==Broadcasting==