A day after the excitement over the hiring of former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel as the Los Angeles Chargers’ new offensive coordinator, some bittersweet news to Chargers fans has surfaced regarding DC Jesse Minter.
According to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Baltimore Ravens are set to hire Chargers’ defensive coordinator Jesse Minter. He becomes just their fourth head coach in franchise history, after the firing of longtime head coach John Harbaugh.
Jesse Minter
Since following Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh from Michigan and taking over the defensive coordinator job, the Chargers’ defense has been phenomenal.
Despite having a largely misfit group of defensive players that features several rookies, including CB Tarheeb Still and CB Cam Hart, he orchestrated the NFL’s number one scoring defense, allowing just 17.7 points per game across the regular season during his first season with the Chargers.
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Although the defense regressed slightly in 2025, Minter’s unit was the strength of this Chargers team, single-handedly carrying them to wins at times, especially with the shortcomings on the offensive line.
Who Will Replace Him As Chargers DC?
The two likely in-house candidates to replace Minter will be defensive line coach Mike Elston and defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale. It would not be a surprise, however, if one of them were to follow Minter to take on the defensive coordinator job in Baltimore.
The Chargers will likely also explore options outside the building, including candidates such as Denver Broncos assistant head coach and pass game coordinator Jim Leonhard.
Bittersweet Departure
Minter’s first head coaching gig has been a long time coming and is well deserved. The players he’s coached under him and the coaches he’s worked with have all spoken about him glowingly.
It was a move that was expected by everyone in the building, given his talents. Ulitmately the Ravens’ head coaching opening was just too enticing to pass up, especially given his history working there from 2017 to 2020, where he was later promoted to the DB coach.
Wishing nothing but the best for head coach Jesse Minter in his coaching endeavor with the Ravens, and genuinely grateful for the remarkable job he’s done with the short amount of time he had with the Chargers, creating a truly special group on defense.