Back in the summer of 2024, Jesse Minter could have easily told me that I was reaching when trying to find similarities between his coaching philosophy and that of Mike Macdonald, who had just left his post as the Ravens’ defensive coordinator to become the head coach of the Seahawks.
At the time, the Ravens defense was all the rage and reporters like myself tried to figure out how Macdonald made it the best unit in the league. Minter had an idea as to why the Ravens defense had flourished, having coached there as a defensive assistant from 2017 to ’20.
But Minter made it clear that what he was about to build with the Chargers defense wasn’t going to be a copycat version of what the Ravens had run as of late. He had his own thing going as the Chargers’ defensive coordinator and declined to compare Los Angeles safety Derwin James to Baltimore safety Kyle Hamilton.
“I’m not really interested in comparing Derwin to anybody else,” Minter said. “People compare themselves to Derwin James.”
That awesome line is now fitting, because in a few years, many coaches could be comparing themselves to Minter after the brilliant defensive mind was named the new head coach of the Ravens on Thursday. But Minter immediately will be compared to the former coach in Baltimore because there are some similarities he has with John Harbaugh.
There’s a case to be made that Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti is attempting to replicate what he had with Harbaugh by bringing in a coach who worked under him for a few seasons and with Harbaugh’s brother, Jim, in Los Angeles. Minter is laid back like the older Harbaugh, but that’s where the similarities end because Minter is constantly evolving as a coach and not afraid to experiment on the football field. Obviously, he’ll take ingredients from what he learned from both the Harbaugh brothers and what he gathered from the college game as the defensive coordinator at Vanderbilt and Michigan (also under Jim Harbaugh) and from his father, Rick, a longtime coach in the college and pro games.
But what makes Minter an excellent hire for Baltimore is that he’s not married to a specific scheme and prioritizes the strengths of players. He helped James return to his All-Pro form, allowed linebacker Daiyan Henley to find his footing, turned Day 3 picks such as cornerbacks Tarheeb Still and Cam Hart into draft gems and guided edge rusher Tuli Tuipulotu into a breakout 2025 season with 13 sacks. There are reasons why he’s beloved in the building and why Chargers players are showering him with praise on social media after it was announced that he’s headed to Baltimore. In two seasons with Minter, the Chargers allowed a league-best 17.7 points per game in 2024 and followed it up by allowing 20 points per game this past season.
It’s wild to think that Minter is capable of taking Hamilton to another level, but the possibility is there for the two-time first-team All-Pro to continue getting better under Minter because of all the creativity he showed with the Chargers. Again, what Minter will do in Baltimore will likely be different from what Macdonald did in 2023 and what defensive coordinator Zach Orr operated the past two seasons. The Ravens defense hasn’t been the same since Macdonald left, with the team struggling to generate pressure and defend the pass.
Minter’s track record suggests that the Ravens defense will be fine. The real questions will be on the offensive side. Will Minter go away from his prior stops to find Lamar Jackson’s next offensive coordinator? Will the next offensive play-caller also have ties to John Harbaugh? With Minter being a first-time head coach at 42, he might opt for someone he has a prior working relationship with, but on the other hand, he could lean on his defensive approach by thinking outside the box and going away from his comfort zone for the benefit of his players.
Who knows what Bisciotti is truly thinking with this hire. Maybe he does want some copycat version of what Harbaugh built and just traded him in for a younger coach. Or perhaps this is Bisciotti’s way of making up for losing Macdonald to Seattle. But if he stays out of Minter’s way and lets him operate differently, then perhaps this could be his latest home run hire.
Those who are ahead of the curve and try new things are usually the ones who find success in the NFL. Everyone wants the next Macdonald, but the Ravens got this hire right because Minter doesn’t like comparisons. He’ll soon let the reporters in Baltimore know that these new-look Ravens have their own thing going and shouldn’t be compared to others.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jesse Minter Has Similarities to John Harbaugh, But He Does Things Differently.
