Michigan Wolverines football head coach Jim Harbaugh left for the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers in late January, less than a month after his team won the program’s 12th-ever national championship. Weeks later, he hired defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, who’s now back in the NFL after two seasons with the Maize and Blue.
In an interview with Chargers.com, Minter explained his decision to leave Ann Arbor for Los Angeles.
“No. 1 is Jim Harbaugh, and then it’s the opportunity that the Chargers have given me — the Spanos family, [general manager] Joe Hortiz, Coach,” Minter said. “Just tremendously blessed to be here. A great opportunity for my family and I.”
Minter has coached in college most of his career, but he spent four seasons in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens from 2017-20. He’s had his eye on returning to the professional ranks for some time.
“Certainly have always had dreams of doing this at this level, so this was the best opportunity, getting the chance to continue to work with people I know and trust and feel comfortable with,” Minter continued. “I look forward to doing it here.”
When Minter was hired at Michigan ahead of the 2022 season, he was taking over a defense that had immense success the prior season under coordinator Mike Macdonald, who became the Ravens’ D.C. and is now the head man of the Seattle Seahawks. Now, Minter is building alongside Harbaugh with the Chargers.
“I know the way he wants to build the team,” Minter said. “I know the identity that he’s looking for. I know how I can help that with how we want to play defense. And so, when I first went to Michigan, he was established there, so I kind of learned the culture there, I learned the identity. But now, I know going into it what we want it to look like. And to be on the front end of it and be laying that foundation here early I think is going to be really fun.”
Michigan hired longtime NFL defensive coordinator Don Martindale, who Minter coached with in Baltimore, to run the system.
Minter said there are translatable aspects of what the staff did at Michigan to how they’ll approach their time in Los Angeles.
“It’s the ultimate team,” Minter said of what Harbaugh is trying to build. “At Michigan, it was ‘the team, the team, the team,’ but that’s how he’s always been, building a team from the inside out, building a team that’s tough, that’s physical, that can win in a lot of different ways. So, we look forward to doing our part on defense here to bring that success.”
Rick Minter, Jesse’s father and a longtime coach, spent the last two seasons at Michigan, as well. He served as an analyst, before taking over as interim linebackers coach for the final five games of the 2023 campaign. He also followed Harbaugh and his son to the Chargers, as senior defensive analyst.
“Just running different things by him, whether it’s culturally, teaching, schemes,” Minter said of how he’s leaned on his father. “Just little details. ‘Do you think the coaches will pick up on this? How do I need to teach this concept? Is this too much? Do we have enough? Do we have enough answers?’
“Just stuff like that, that he’s kind of got this big picture look. His view is from 30,000 feet, whereas I’m closer, so I kind of like that, that he’s got this wider lens and say, ‘Hey, maybe what about this or that.’ Just kind of that big-picture view that he brings.”
