Ravens Hire Jesse Minter As HC

Jesse Minter is officially coming back to Baltimore. The former John Harbaugh assistant will be hired as his successor. The Ravens announced the decision Thursday.

Canceling his second Browns interview earlier today, Minter has chosen one of Cleveland’s AFC North rivals. The fit is natural, given Minter’s past in Maryland. The two-year Chargers DC has worked under Jim Harbaugh at Michigan and in Los Angeles, but prior to that, he spent four seasons as a Ravens assistant. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport initially reported the Minter hire was close.

It is rather interesting the Ravens will hire one of John Harbaugh’s former assistants given Steve Bisciotti‘s comments regarding the HC’s underachievement. But Minter drew widespread interest from around the league. Following Bisciotti’s comments about giving the new hire a long runway, Minter received a five-year contract (per ESPN’s Adam Schefter).

The Ravens have also been known for in-house hires. They promoted GM Eric DeCosta to succeed Ozzie Newsome and previously elevated position coaches to replace coordinators. Minter never rose above the position coach tier during his previous Baltimore stint, which involved defensive back coach roles, but he has impressed during his years as a defensive coordinator — at both the college and pro levels.

Minter, 42, did go through a second interview with the Raiders, who conducted that meeting on Tuesday. Minter did his second Ravens interview Wednesday. He also met about the Steelers’ HC job. That interview followed summits with the Browns, Cardinals, Dolphins, Falcons, Giants and Titans.

Minter was one of this cycle’s most popular names, and the Chargers look to have anticipated him leaving. L.A. began DC research recently, according to NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo. While DBs coach Steve Clinkscale has come up as a frontrunner to succeed Minter as the Bolts’ DC, the team will at least need to meet with one external minority candidate to constitute a search.

The Raiders were believed to have “heavy interest” in Minter, per insider Jordan Schultz. While Las Vegas has been tied to preferring an offensive HC, Minter came up Wednesday as the team’s top defensive option. But Minter canceled his Browns meeting after his second Ravens interview, following Mike McDaniel in bowing out of that search. That will add some more spice to the long-running Baltimore-Cleveland rivalry, as the Browns held him as a clear finalist.

Jim Harbaugh brought Minter with him from Ann Arbor in 2024, and the Chargers have ranked as a top-10 scoring defense each season. Minter restored a defense that was unable to take flight under Brandon Staley. The Bolts ranked first defensively in 2024 and ninth this season. The team did so despite minimal investments, as we discussed in September, on that side of the ball. Derwin James and Khalil Mack were the only Bolts defenders earning more than $6.5MM per year, and teams noticed Minter maximizing his talent.

The Ravens gave Minter his first NFL job, hiring him as a defensive assistant in 2017. That came after Minter served as Georgia State’s DC 2013-16. Previously, he was Indiana State’s DC for two seasons. The Sycamores hired Minter for that role at age 27, and he has steadily climbed the ladder since. The Ravens promoted Minter to assistant DBs coach in 2019 and DBs coach in 2020, when he served under Don Martindale.

Minter became Vanderbilt’s DC in 2021 before joining Jim Harbaugh for the same role at Michigan. The Wolverines steamrolled to a 15-0 national championship-winning season in 2023, and their defense — co-coordinated by Minter and Clinkscale — led Division I-FBS with 10.4 points allowed per game. Harbaugh gave Minter the nod at DC upon coming to L.A., and the Bolts completed a quick turnaround to book a wild-card spot. They repeated as a playoff team in 2025, and Minter — who did not draw any HC interviews on last year’s cycle — became a coveted candidate in 2026.

This is only the fourth HC hire in Ravens history, thanks to Brian Billick and John Harbaugh’s lengthy tenures. Baltimore fired Bill Belichick and hired Ted Marchibroda in 1996. This marks the first defense-based HC hire in franchise history, with Marchibroda and Billick coming from offensive backgrounds and Harbaugh a former special teams coordinator. Harbaugh lasted 18 seasons, but blown leads and repeated playoff shortcomings during the Lamar Jackson era keyed the end of his wildly successful run.

Minter will have big shoes to fill, but the Ravens have joined the Steelers in presenting a high floor. The Ravens lost more than 10 games in a season just once during Harbaugh’s time — the 2015 campaign that featured a season-ending Joe Flacco injury — and they have Jackson signed through the 2027 season.

Extension talks with the superstar quarterback are expected, and Jackson was believed to have provided input during the coaching search. The Ravens still have Kliff Kingsbury on their OC radar, according to Rapoport. Joe Brady, who also met about Baltimore’s HC position, is also believed to be a coordinator candidate. Brady, though, remains up for a promotion in Buffalo. He is also part of multiple HC searches. Five jobs remain open.

Kingsbury came up as a Ravens option shortly after Harbaugh’s ouster, and he interviewed for both the team’s HC and OC jobs. Considering the success Kingsbury had with Jayden Daniels in 2024, he would be an appealing staffer to pair with Jackson. It will also be interesting to see if this hire impacts Harbaugh’s ability to fill out his Giants staff, as Minter could be interested in retaining some assistants. Harbaugh already got to work dismantling the Giants’ staff Wednesday.

The Ravens still employ some defenders from Minter’s first Baltimore stint. Marlon Humphrey arrived during Minter’s first season, playing under the then-DBs coach, while Nnamdi Madubuike and Broderick Washington were 2020 draftees. The Ravens traded for two-year Minter pupil Alohi Gilman before the deadline. This hire would point to the team being interested in re-signing the ex-Chargers starter.

Entering the 2025 season having ranked below 10th defensively just once over the past nine seasons, the Ravens finished 18th in scoring defense and 24th in yardage. Minter will be tasked with restoring Baltimore to its upper-crust version. His OC hire will be critical, but the Ravens have employed HCs without offensive backgrounds throughout the Jackson and Flacco eras. Running the risk of losing play-callers is nothing new here, and unlike the 2008 Harbaugh hire, the Ravens will opt for familiarity rather than taking a chance on someone with no history with the franchise.