The Chargers' defense made a surprising transformation last season, rocketing from the bottom quartile to No. 1 in points allowed. Los Angeles managed this without making many additions of note to join Tom Telesco-era staples Joey Bosa, Derwin James and Khalil Mack.
That trend continued this offseason, and the Chargers entered Week 1 with their most notable defensive move being a subtraction (the Bosa release). Early in Week 2, they lost Mack to a dislocated elbow. The team still held the Raiders to nine points and the Broncos to nine first downs, showing no signs of confirming their unexpected 2024 resurgence was fluky.
Twenty games into Jesse Minter's defensive coordinator tenure, his Bolts work appears quite legitimate. While the former Jim Harbaugh Michigan DC came up as a potential 2025 HC candidate, no team chose interview him during this year's cycle. Even in a league that prioritizes offensive-oriented candidates, this qualified as surprising given the turnaround Minter steered last season. There is almost no chance the 42-year-old staffer goes interview-less in 2026, and this 20-game pace points to the Chargers needing to look for a new DC next year.
