Jim Harbaugh, the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines football team, departed the team to join the Los Angeles Chargers of the NFL in late January, less than a month after his 12-time national championship-winning squad. After a few weeks, he brought on Jesse Minter, the defensive coordinator who had spent two seasons with the Maize and Blue, back to the NFL.
Minter gave an explanation of his decision to move from Ann Arbour to Los Angeles in an interview with Chargers.com.
The chance that the Chargers have given me, the Spanos family, [general manager] Joe Hortiz, and Coach, comes first, Minter stated. I feel so fortunate to be present. An amazing chance for my family and me.
The majority of Minter’s career has been spent as a college coach, although from 2017 to 20, he played four seasons in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens. He has long had his sights set on going back to the professional levels.
“This was the best opportunity, getting to continue working with people I know, trust, and feel comfortable with,” Minter said. “Certainly have always dreamed of doing this at this level.” “I’m excited to do it here.”
Prior to the 2022 season, Minter was hired by Michigan to take over a defence that had been extremely successful under coordinator Mike Macdonald, who later became the D.C. for the Ravens and is currently the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. Minter is now developing with the Chargers alongside Harbaugh.
Minter remarked, “I know how he wants to build the team.” “I am aware of the person he is trying to find. Knowing how we want to play defence, I know how I can help with that. He was already established in Michigan when I first moved there, so I kind of picked up on the identity and culture there. However, I now know what we want it to look like going into it. And I think it will be a lot of fun to be on the forefront of it and lay that foundation here early.
To manage the scheme, Michigan brought in veteran NFL defensive coordinator Don Martindale, who Minter had worked with as a coach in Baltimore.
According to Minter, some of the staff’s actions at Michigan can be applied to how they will spend their time in Los Angeles.
Regarding the team Harbaugh is attempting to assemble, Minter declared, “It’s the ultimate team.” “At Michigan, it was all about the team—’the team, the team, the team.’ But that’s how he’s always been about developing teams—tough, physically fit, and capable of winning in a variety of ways. Thus, we are eager to contribute to this accomplishment by playing defence.
The previous two seasons were also spent at Michigan by Jesse’s father, Rick Minter, a veteran coaching staff member. Before taking over as the team’s temporary linebackers coach for the final five games of the 2023 season, he worked as an analyst. As a senior defensive analyst, he also moved to the Chargers with Harbaugh and his son.
Minter described his dependence on his father as “just running different things by him, whether it’s culturally, teaching, or schemes.” Simple things like these. Do you think the coaches will notice? How should I go about teaching this idea? Is this going to be excessive? Are we at capacity? Are they enough answers for us?
“Simply things like that, that he seems to have this broad perspective. I kind of enjoy that he has a wider lens and can look at things from 30,000 feet instead of my closer vantage point and say, “Hey, maybe what about this or that.” Just the broad perspective that he offers.
