If imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery, then the Baltimore Ravens just paid the Seattle Seahawks and Mike Macdonald the ultimate compliment. In hiring Los Angeles Chargers’ defensive coordinator Jesse Minter to be their next head coach, they are coming as close as humanly possible to bringing in Macdonald two-point-oh.
You can dwell on the quirky Harbaugh family connection if you like. Minter, who joined Jim Harbaugh when he left Michigan to take over the Chargers, is now replacing Jim’s brother John as the head man in Baltimore. But there are other connections worth noting.
Minter is just the fourth coach in Ravens’ franchise history. The first, Ted Marchibroda, was a veteran more or less inherited from the Colts franchise. He had a history in Baltimore and was seen as a steadying hand to lead an expansion franchise. But the next two were, like Minter, first-time head coaches in their mid-40s.
New Baltimore Ravens coach has deep ties to Seattle Seahawks' Mike Macdonald
Brian Billick was an offensive coordinator, and John Harbaugh ran special teams. Minter is a defensive coach, like Macdonald. Also like Macdonald, he cut his teeth coaching in college for a few years before ascending to the pros.
When he came to the Ravens as a defensive assistant in 2017, he essentially inherited the position Mike Macdonald had held the previous two seasons. Macdonald was younger than Minter, but was further along in his coaching career, having spent fewer years in the college game. The year Minter first came to Baltimore, Macdonald graduated from defensive assistant to defensive backs coach.
Minter would work his way up to that same position in 2020. By that time, Macdonald was coaching linebackers. But Macdonald was looking for a chance to run his own defense. With Wink Martindale ensconced as the Ravens’ DC, Macdonald left to run the defense for Jim Harbaugh at Michigan.
That same year, Minter made a similar move, taking the DC job at Vanderbilt. When Macdonald left Michigan after one year to return to Baltimore as the Ravens’ new defensive coordinator, who did Jim Harbaugh turn to as his Michigan replacement?
If you guessed Jesse Minter, you’re getting the hang of this little history lesson.
Minter spent two years at Michigan helping them claim the national championship in 2023, before following Jim Harbaugh back to the NFL. Meanwhile, Mike Macdonald was building his state-of-the-art defense in Baltimore and becoming one of the hottest coaching prospects on the market.
Minter was probably destined for a head coaching gig at some point down the road. He inherited a below-average unit in 2024 and turned it overnight into a top-ten defense. His Chargers led the entire league in points allowed in his first season.
But the extraordinary success of Mike Macdonald in Seattle may have sped up the process. While Minter was proving what a good defensive coach he was, Macdonald was quickly being recognized as one of the best coaches in the league, regardless of which side of the ball he knew best.
Coming from a winning franchise like the one in Baltimore, spending time at an elite college program like Michigan, learning your craft under the Harbaugh brothers, and proving you can design some of the best, most effective defenses in the entire NFL… those seem to be pretty good bullet points for your coaching resume.
The Seattle Seahawks certainly thought so when they outbid the Washington Commanders for Mike Macdonald. And now the Baltimore Ravens, who have seen their fortunes diminish ever since Macdonald left the building, seem to be making an almost identical choice in the hiring of Jesse Minter.