Career
He stood in as the interim head football coach for three games at the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2010. Cabral played professionally as a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) with the Atlanta Falcons, the Green Bay Packers, and the Chicago Bears. He led Colorado with 13 tackles (12 solo) in the 1977 Orange Bowl against Ohio State.
That 25-tackle game included 13 solo stops and is still tied for the fourth most in a single game in Colorado team history.
Cabral was a nine-year National Football League veteran, being drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the fourth round of the 1978 NFL Draft. He played two seasons with Atlanta, one with Green Bay and six with Chicago.
Following his, Cabral became the inside linebackers coach at Purdue 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, Rick Neuheisel, Gary Barnett, Dan Hawkins and Jon Embree.
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. 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 Gary Barnett 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 Dan Hawkins was fired. Cabral grew up in Kailua, Hawaii and remains involved in recruiting efforts in Hawaii for the Buffaloes.
Cabral earned a Bachelor of Surgery degree in therapeutic recreation from Colorado in 1978.
