Chargers News: Unpacking Jesse Minter's Defensive Strategy
The Los Angeles Chargers have a lot of work to do within their roster before they can get themselves back into playoff contention. But the first step was bringing in the correct leadership to help right the ship.
New head coach Jim Harbaugh leads the way, bringing all his experience, to the mix. Harbaugh is coming off winning a title with the University of Michigan and his return to the NFL has brought a ton of buzz.
Alongside him is a talented group of coaches, including defensive coordinator Jesse Minter. Minter comes to Los Angeles from Michigan with Harbaugh and there is a lot to be excited about with him.
Minter broke down his plan for the defense recently, saying the Chargers have to establish an identity on that side of the ball before anything can happen.
"I think it's a prerequisite to play good defense these days. Offensively, when you really look at it, there's probably across like five or six main plates across the NFL that coordinators eat off of. A lot of them are predicated on the run game, some on the pass game, some on obviously both. Some on play action, some on quick game. And so, I think you have to have a defense that's capable of lining up against all those different styles, figuring out what can slow those teams down. Whatever their identity is, you certainly want to try to take away what they do best and make them do other things against you."
The Bolts will have a few Pro Bowl-caliber players on the defense when the season starts, as Joey Bosa and Derwin James are expected back. They could also have Khalil Mack depending on how the front office handles him this offseason.
They will have the talent to work with, giving Minter a nice blueprint in his first season. He values versatility, something that has worked well for him at Michigan.
"I think having a really flexible, learnable defense is really important. We will really try to conceptually teach guys what we're trying to do. We don't want guys to memorize play calls. We want to understand concepts of how we're trying to play people. That allows you as you go to create the versatility, to move a guy around. Once they understand exactly what we're trying to do, then you can create all this stuff that looks a lot more multiple — hopefully to other people than it actually is to our guys."
With Minter and Harbaugh in the fold, the Chargers should be able to go back to a place of contention. It may not happen right away, but the Bolts will be much more formidable going forward.
