Jesse Minter is leaving the Chargers: 8 candidates to replace him as defensive coordinator
Jesse Minter has agreed to terms with the Baltimore Ravens to be their next head coach, and now Jim Harbaugh and the Los Angeles Chargers will be searching for a new defensive coordinator for 2026.
The Chargers are expected to hire former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel as their new offensive coordinator, meaning Harbaugh will have new play callers on both sides of the ball next season.
In two seasons calling plays for the Chargers, Minter established himself as one of the brightest defensive minds in the league. The Chargers ranked seventh in defensive EPA per play over 2024 and 2025, according to TruMedia. Minter elevated players all over the defense. He helped safety Derwin James Jr. return to All-Pro form. He oversaw the breakouts of linebacker Daiyan Henley and edge rusher Tuli Tuipulotu. He shepherded the development of cornerbacks Tarheeb Still and Cam Hart, two 2024 fifth-round picks who are now viable starters.
The list goes on, and the next Chargers defensive coordinator will have huge shoes to fill.
The positive news: The Chargers have been readying themselves for Minter’s inevitable departure. As Harbaugh said last week when discussing Minter’s head-coaching opportunities, “It’s not so much a question of if. We’ve known that. It’s a question of when. The product that Jesse has established, as the head coach of the defense, that’s so good that we know. We know it’s a matter of when, so we’ve been preparing for that.”
Here are eight candidates to replace Minter.
Steve Clinkscale, Chargers defensive backs coach
At a joint end-of-season news conference with Harbaugh last week, general manager Joe Hortiz specifically mentioned internal candidates when asked about Minter possibly leaving.
“We have a lot of great coaches on the staff, on the defensive staff, that will be considered, too, if he does depart,” Hortiz said.
Clinkscale is among those attractive internal candidates. He has been the Chargers’ defensive backs coach for the past two seasons. He came over with Harbaugh from Michigan, where he spent three seasons, including the last two as co-defensive coordinator alongside Minter. Clinkscale is a tough-love coach, and his attention to detail has been instrumental in the growth of some of the young cornerbacks, including Hart and Still. Clinkscale has also generated productive play from veteran additions like Kristian Fulton in 2024 and Donte Jackson in 2025. Minter has built something special in Los Angeles. It would make some sense to try to maintain continuity within the system.
Mike Elston, Chargers defensive line coach
Elston is another rising star on the Chargers defensive staff. The Chargers have not invested heavily in the interior for their defensive line, and yet Elston has cultivated consistent play from his group over the past two seasons.
The Chargers signed Poona Ford to a cheap free agent contract in 2024. Ford was one of the best interior defenders in the league that season, and he signed a $27.6 million contract with the Los Angeles Rams the ensuing offseason. The Chargers picked up Teair Tart off the street in August 2024. He has continued to ascend since joining the Chargers and is now poised to sign a big extension this offseason. Da’Shawn Hand signed for less than $3 million in the 2025 offseason. He was the Chargers’ most effective interior run defender. Justin Eboigbe, a 2024 fourth-round pick, had six sacks this past season.
Elston, to put it simply, gets the most out of the players he is given. That is the mark of an excellent coach. The big question: Would he want the Chargers’ defensive coordinator job, or would he follow Minter to Baltimore?
Mike Elston could be a candidate for a promotion if he doesn’t join Jesse Minter in Baltimore. (Mark J. Rebilas / Imagn Images)
Chris Hewitt, Indianapolis Colts pass game coordinator/secondary coach
If the Chargers end up hiring an external candidate, my expectation is they will try to remain in the same schematic family. The system works, and it would be unwise to deviate from that system, even if, as Hortiz said last week, the players are “scheme-versatile.”
The origins of the scheme can be traced back to the Ravens in 2018. Minter was on that defensive staff. Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald was on that defensive staff. In the seven years since, the system has proliferated around the league, so there are options for the Chargers.
Hewitt was the Ravens defensive backs coach in 2018. He was promoted to pass defense coordinator for 2020 and 2021. In 2022, Macdonald took over as Ravens defensive coordinator after coordinating Harbaugh’s Michigan defense for one season. Hewitt was Macdonald’s pass game coordinator and secondary coach for two seasons. In 2024, Hewitt added assistant head coach to his title. And in 2025, Hewitt left Baltimore to join the Colts.
Wink Martindale, former Michigan defensive coordinator
Martindale was the godfather of the scheme reset that happened with the Ravens in 2018. Martindale was promoted to defensive coordinator that offseason by John Harbaugh. The defensive meeting room in Baltimore effectively turned into a think tank, as Martindale and his group of young coaches reimagined the system. As Martindale told me over the summer, “It was fun doing it together. It was a lot of time. It was a difficult offseason, but you were also excited because you were building something new.”
Minter and Macdonald were young coaches on that staff. So was Hewitt. So were some other coaches you will see on this list. But Martindale is available after being let go by Michigan, and the transition would be pretty seamless if the Chargers are looking for continuity.
Drew Wilkins, Los Angeles Rams pass rush coordinator
Wilkins spent 12 seasons with the Ravens from 2010 to 2021, starting as a football video operations intern before working his way up to outside linebackers coach. He was in that role in 2018 and remained there through 2021. In 2022, he left the Ravens and was hired by the New York Giants for two seasons. After one season with the New England Patriots in 2024, he joined Sean McVay’s staff with the Rams. This past season, the Rams ranked fourth in pressure rate, according to TruMedia. Wilkins “was big in that process” of the 2018 scheme overhaul in Baltimore, according to Martindale.
Dennard Wilson, former Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator
Wilson spent one season with the Ravens in 2023 as Macdonald’s defensive backs coach, so there is less of a direct tie here. Wilson then left to join the Tennessee Titans in 2024 as Brian Callahan’s defensive coordinator, a role he filled for the past two seasons. Wilson ran a scheme that was rooted in the Martindale-Minter-Macdonald Ravens system. That was part of the reason the Chargers were able to integrate safety Elijah Molden so quickly after trading for him in late August 2024. The Chargers traded a seventh-round pick to the Titans. Molden had an interception in his second game with the Chargers.
Wilson’s Titans defense ranked 24th in EPA per play over the past two seasons, according to TruMedia. He wasn’t exactly working with elite talent outside of interior defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons. His play-calling experience is a plus. And so is his scheme familiarity.
Joe Cullen, Kansas City Chiefs defensive line coach
Cullen was the defensive line coach on the 2018 Ravens staff. He stayed in that role through the 2020 season. In 2021, he called plays as the Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator. That season was the Urban Meyer fiasco. In 2022, he joined the Chiefs.
Anthony Weaver, former Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator
Weaver is getting head-coaching looks, and he could end up joining John Harbaugh on the Giants staff. But the Ravens ties are noteworthy. He was the defensive line coach and run game coordinator in 2021 under Martindale. In 2022 and 2023, he was assistant head coach and defensive line coach for Macdonald. In 2024, he joined McDaniel’s Dolphins staff as defensive coordinator and play caller. Weaver put together a really solid defense in 2024, as the Dolphins finished seventh in EPA per play, according to TruMedia. The Dolphins were less successful in 2025, finishing 24th in EPA per play.
