Chargers News: Jesse Minter Compares His Coaching Style to Jim Harbaugh
In the grind of a college or professional football season, it's tempting to invoke a war metaphor. Coaches have to feel as if they're in the trenches with one another.
Between the game planning, the roster decisions, and the impromptu situations that inevitably arise over the course of a season, the moments between game days have to feel like an endless string of meetings, presentations, and time spent in close quarters. Under the circumstances, it's nice to have like-minded teammates.
When tasked with picking a defensive coordinator, new Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh didn't have to look far. Jesse Minter was his DC each of the last two years at the University of Michigan. Far from oil and water, Minter described his philosophy to The Athletic as one that should blend seamlessly with Harbaugh's in the NFL — just like it did in college.
“There’s a style of football that I think we both believe in to play winning football. That requires a toughness and a physicality.”
— Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter
Minter, 40, played college football at Mount St. Joseph University. He served as a college assistant coach at Vanderbilt, Georgia State, Indiana State, the University of Cincinnati and Notre Dame. He has previous experience in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens as a defensive assistant and defensive backs coach.
Minter also served as Michigan's head coach for Michigan's first game of last year while Harbaugh served the first of his three-game suspension.
Perhaps most critically for the Chargers, Minter described an approach that differed from that of Brandon Staley in a key aspect. Via The Athletic's Daniel Popper:
That last part of the answer is crucial. In the waning days of Staley’s tenure, defensive players painted a stark picture. They would frequently approach Staley and other members of the defensive staff to tell the coaches the scheme was too complicated. They asked for certain aspects to be pared down. They felt that would allow them to play faster. They tried to take that ownership. But those requests fell on deaf ears too many times.
Minter’s approach, at least based on his comments Thursday, feel like a deviation from this.
“We’ll go at the rate of which those guys can operate,” Minter said. “It might not be as much year one. It might be a lot, depending on how it starts going.”
