After casting a wide net that included at least 16 known candidates over the last two weeks, the Ravens ultimately chose a familiar face to become the fourth head coach in the history of the franchise.
On Thursday, Baltimore announced the hiring of Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter to replace John Harbaugh. The 42-year-old served as a defensive assistant on Harbaugh’s staff from 2017-20 and worked for Jim Harbaugh at the University of Michigan and in Los Angeles over the last four seasons.
“Jesse is a strong leader who possesses a brilliant football mind and a spirit that will resonate with our players and fan base alike,” general manager Eric DeCosta said in a statement released by the team. “Jesse comes from a football family with success at every level of the sport, and we are confident that he is the right coach to lead the Ravens forward.”
The Ravens had conducted first-round interviews with five candidates — Vance Joseph, Davis Webb, Klint Kubiak, Chris Shula, and Nathan Scheelhaase — coaching for teams that are still playing in Sunday’s conference championship games, which led many to believe a decision wouldn’t come until next week when any combination of those individuals would be eligible for an in-person interview. However, it became apparent Baltimore was closing in on Minter when he called off his second interview with Cleveland the day after Wednesday’s in-person meeting in Owings Mills. Las Vegas had also conducted a second interview with Minter earlier this week and had strong interest in him, which could have deterred Baltimore from taking its search into next week and running the risk of losing him to the Raiders.
Minter’s first interview with the Ravens was on Jan. 14. Baltimore also conducted in-person second interviews with Miami defensive coordinator and ex-Ravens assistant Anthony Weaver and Buffalo offensive coordinator Joe Brady this week.
Regarded months ago as an ascending head coach candidate to watch in the 2026 hiring cycle, Minter was quickly identified as one of the favorites to replace Harbaugh after owner Steve Bisciotti fired the longtime head coach on Jan. 6. In his first stint as a Ravens assistant, Minter was part of a collaborative effort — that also included eventual defensive coordinator and current Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald — to revamp Baltimore’s defensive system in 2018 when Wink Martindale replaced Dean Pees as defensive coordinator. That system is now used by a number of teams around the NFL with Minter having found success deploying it at Michigan as well as with the Chargers, who finished in the top 10 in total defense, pass defense, run defense, sacks, takeaways, red-zone defense, third-down defense, defensive EPA, and defensive DVOA in 2025.
Two years after Macdonald left Baltimore to become the Seahawks’ head man, the Ravens clearly saw Minter as being on a similar trajectory. He served as a defensive backs coach in his last two years with the Ravens before leaving to become the defensive coordinator at Vanderbilt University in 2021. Minter was then plucked away by Jim Harbaugh to replace Macdonald as Michigan’s defensive coordinator in 2022 and help the Wolverines win a national championship in 2023.
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“Jesse was impressive throughout our incredibly thorough interview process. He clearly understands the values, high expectations, and history of the Ravens, and he has a great vision for the future,” Bisciotti said in a statement. “Jesse’s football acumen is outstanding, and that’s been proven by the impact he’s made throughout his entire coaching career. He is also a leader who will authentically connect with our players and inspire them to championship levels.”
While the Ravens are expecting Minter to improve a defense that struggled transitioning from Macdonald to Zach Orr at the coordinator spot over the last two seasons, they’ll now be counting on a rookie head coach to lead a team that will again have high expectations despite a disappointing 8-9 season. Baltimore will also be counting on Minter reinvigorating two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson, who is coming off an injury-plagued 2025 campaign. Of course, a big part of that equation will be whom Minter and the Ravens hire as the new offensive coordinator with Brady and former Arizona head coach Kliff Kingsbury rumored to be candidates for that job.
Ultimately, there’s always plenty of unknown when hiring a new head coach, but the Ravens are betting on their familiarity with Minter and his development over these last five years paying off in a major way. Nine players — Jackson, Ronnie Stanley, Marlon Humphrey, Patrick Ricard, Mark Andrews, Justice Hill, Nnamdi Madubuike, Broderick Washington, and Nick Moore — remain from Minter’s first stint with the team that concluded after the 2020 season.
“This is an organization whose values, culture, and tradition of excellence reflect everything I believe about the game of football and how it should be played,” Minter said in a statement. “My family and I are thrilled to join the Ravens Flock, and we can’t wait to make the fans, the great city of Baltimore, and Maryland proud.”
