A former candidate to replace Mike Tomlin as Pittsburgh Steelers head coach will now be in charge of their top AFC North rival.
The Baltimore Ravens hired Jesse Minter to take over for John Harbaugh as their head coach on Thursday.
Your next coach of the Baltimore Ravens.
We have agreed to terms with Jesse Minter to be our head coach! pic.twitter.com/5VEBGk8iB1
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) January 22, 2026
In this Friday’s “Football Footnotes,” we look at the impact of that decision on the Steelers’ coaching search, how Minter may help the Ravens and potential reasons why he didn’t get deeper into discussions with the front office in Pittsburgh.
Previously the defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Chargers, Minter will now be tasked with rebuilding the once-vaunted Ravens defense.
That unit sank to 24th in the NFL overall (354.5 yards allowed per game) and 31st against the pass (247.7/game).
He certainly has the endorsement of former All-Pro safety Derwin James.
Asked if defensive coordinator Jesse Minter would be a good head coach, Chargers safety Derwin James said, “Hell yeah. He can make whatever he wants to be. He’s that guy. He’s an alpha. The guys play hard for him, and I just feel he’s that dude.” pic.twitter.com/HGrj4f0wRu
— Eric Williams (@edubnfl22) November 15, 2024
Minter was an assistant on Harbaugh’s staff in Baltimore on defense from 2017-20. Most recently, he worked for the past two years as the DC under Harbaugh’s brother, Jim, who is the head coach of the Chargers.
Prior to that, he was on Jim Harbaugh’s staff at the University of Michigan for two years as well.
Of the many defensive coordinator candidates the Steelers have interviewed, Minter was my preferred prospect from that side of the ball. His Chargers defense was in the top 10 when it came to yards allowed, passing yards, rushing yards, points allowed and takeaways in 2025.
In 2024, the Chargers only allowed 17.7 points per game, the best in the NFL.
Take a look at this comparison between Minter’s two-year effort in L.A. and former Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald’s growth as the head coach in Seattle.
Mike Macdonald vs Jesse Minter
Tale of the Tape. First 2 years …
Nearly identical. #RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/N0o2h51SiU
— Jordan (@OnlyTheRavens) January 21, 2026
When Minter was previously with the Ravens, he was the defensive backs coach. His Chargers had 19 interceptions this year. Only Chicago (23) and Jacksonville (22) had more.
In Baltimore, he’ll be working with the likes of Kyle Hamilton, Marlon Humphrey and Nate Wiggins. The pass defense should be better than what it was last year — and may be if it is aided by an improved pass rush that produced only 30 sacks (30th in the NFL) this year.
Minter never got beyond the virtual interview phase in Pittsburgh, and I’m not sure why.
He certainly fit their profile. Like Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin, Minter was a DC who had never been a head coach before. He was a little older than those men were, 42 as opposed to their mid-to-late-30s, but I can’t see that being the issue.
Tomlin gushed about Minter prior to his team’s 25-10 loss in Los Angeles.
“Got a lot of respect for Jesse Minter and his strategic approach to the game,” Tomlin said Nov. 4. “He does an awesome job minimizing big plays. He does an awesome job of moving Derwin James around.”
Tomlin was a defensive backs coach at the University of Cincinnati under Minter’s father, Rick, from 1999-2000.
Maybe that was actually a negative. It’s possible that Steelers officials could’ve seen Minter as too much of a Tomlin disciple, and they didn’t want that being used as a negative by the fans and media who lobbied for Tomlin to resign or be dismissed.
Perhaps the Steelers got the sense that Minter was inclined to take the Ravens job the entire time and didn’t want to give away any intra-divisional secrets.
Or maybe they just felt he was underqualified from an offensive perspective or didn’t interview well. Whatever the case, I thought there was more to investigate by the Steelers when it came to him. But Minter never became more than a fringe candidate.
I was disappointed in that. Hopefully, that doesn’t burn the club for years to come.
Here’s a message I got from one guy arguing against Minter, but lobbying for Rams DC Chris Shula.
Minter rode Harbaugh’s coattails. Excelled in structured programs. Good results, but not fully independent.
Shula grinded up the NFL ranks and got great production with less talent. He’s just the #1 guy for me. And if not him, I wanted offense. So, he’s just down the list.
— Steelers Standard (@SteelStandard7) January 22, 2026
Look, I’m with you in the sense that Minter may just be a product of Harbaugh residue. That could prove true.
But I’m sorry, you do grasp that the other guy’s last name is “Shula,” don’t you?
Everything I’ve heard about Shula seems to be what you have, as well. He works hard, and the presumption that he is a nepo-baby because of his grandfather’s Hall of Fame resume is inaccurate.
I’m willing to believe that, as you are.
But it seems extremely inconsistent to me to ostensibly fault Minter for being a branch on the Harbaugh family tree, but dismiss Shula’s literal NFL lineage at the same time.
More sports
• Joe Starkey: Kyle Dubas is the star as Penguins return to Edmonton
• The Steelers are (likely) in the market for yet another QB. None of the options are ideal
• Tim Benz: Trading for Jason Robertson wouldn’t be mortgaging the Penguins’ future — it would be securing it
While Minter may have a leg up in the defensive room, he’ll likely have some work to do when it comes to winning over the offensive players.
That specifically means Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry.
Minter’s former boss may be making that task tough on his one-time pupil. Harbaugh appears to be going after Willie Taggart to become his new offensive coordinator with the New York Giants.
Taggart had been Baltimore’s assistant head coach and Henry’s position coach with the running backs.
The Giants have requested to interview Ravens assistant head coach/RBs Willie Taggart for offensive coordinator, per source.
The former Florida State and Oregon head coach was a member of John Harbaugh’s Baltimore staff for three seasons. pic.twitter.com/VE1hQSaFKL
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) January 22, 2026
Former Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury has been frequently rumored as a candidate to take that job in Baltimore.
