Opinion: Ravens may not be better with Jesse Minter as new head coach

Jesse Minter (YouTube)

The Baltimore Ravens have hired Jesse Minter of Little Rock, Arkansas as their new head coach on Thursday, according to TSN. Minter had been the defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Chargers the last two years.

Minter’s decision means the Chargers are without their two top coordinators from last season. The Chargers are already looking for an offensive coordinator after firing Greg Roman on January 13. In the Chargers’s final game of this past season, a 16-3 loss to the New England Patriots, the Chargers defense was stellar and their offense was terrible. That is one reason why Minter got promoted with another NFL franchise and Roman lost his job outright.

In Baltimore, Minter is replacing John Harbaugh, who had been the Ravens head coach the last 18 seasons. Harbaugh is now the new head coach of the New York Giants. Baltimore made a head coaching change after missing the postseason altogether this year. Baltimore was eliminated after losing 26-24 to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the final game of the regular season.

This is Minter’s second time in the Ravens’s organization. From 2017 to 2020, Minter was the Ravens’s defensive assistant, assistant defensive backs coach and defensive backs coach.

In addition to coaching in the NFL. Minter has spent considerable time coaching at the National Collegiate Athletic Association level. He was with Notre Dame as a defensive intern (2006), the Cincinnati Bearcats as a graduate assistant (2007 and 2008), Indiana State as a linebackers coach and defensive coordinator (2009 to 2012), Georgia State as a defensive coordinator (2013 top 2016), Vanderbilt as a defensive coordinator and safeties coach and Michigan as a defensive coordinator (2022 and 2023).

Will the Ravens be better with Minter? I don’t think so. Remember, Harbaugh had a remarkable .614 winning percentage during his time in Baltimore, and won a Super Bowl too.