John Harbaugh Gets Ravens Excited for Jesse Minter

The Baltimore Ravens fan base has been on Cloud 9 since the team hired Jesse Minter as the new head coach.

It's been over a decade since the Ravens won a Super Bowl with their former 18-year head coach, John Harbaugh, who fans still appreciate despite the recent struggles. While appearing on the Ryan Ripken Show, now New York Giants head coach Harbaugh shared his thoughts on the Ravens hiring Minter as the new leader of the franchise.

"I've known him since he was 10... It's in his DNA, and you know, and not just that, but he's smart, he works hard, he's got great people skills, he's had success... He's so ready, I really like the hire... I just, I'm proud of Jesse."

John Harbaugh gives stamp of approval with Jesse Minter hiring

Harbaugh would understand Minter's potential, since the new head coach worked under Harbaugh in Baltimore in 2017. Minter was a defensive assistant starting in 2017 and gradually moved up to defensive backs coach by his final season in 2020, before departing for the Vanderbilt defensive coordinator job in 2021.

Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

This was bound to happen for Minter to land a head coach gig, as he had made quite an impression over the last two years as the Los Angeles Chargers' defensive coordinator. His defenses have finished in the top 11 in points and yards allowed in both seasons.

There's no doubt that Minter has some massive shoes to fill as Harbaugh won 180 regular season games in his 18 years with the Ravens. He led them to the AFC Championship game four times and helped them win a Super Bowl in the 2012 season.

Despite many changes coming to the Ravens ahead of the 2026 season, expectations appear to be rising with every coaching hire the team makes. Minter is building quite the team around him with Declan Doyle, Anthony Weaver, Joe Lombardi, and Marcus Brady as some of the big names joining the staff for the upcoming season.

While there is much work to be done and much for Minter to learn from the other coaches, he had the chance to learn under one of the best head coaches ever, Harbaugh. Those lessons from the four years Minter spent as an assistant in Baltimore will be invaluable to him as he takes and applies them to the Ravens.

The future has never been brighter in Baltimore, but Minter still has to prove that he can be as good a coach as Harbaugh was over the last 18 years.