Three Pivotal Coaching Hires That Will Boost Jesse Minter’s First Staff

The 2026 Baltimore Ravens are inherently different from every previous incarnation of the team by the nature of the unique composition of their coaching staff.

This was arguably the most involved any general manager has been in hiring the head coach in the history of the organization, with owner Steve Bisciotti outsourcing much of the work to Eric DeCosta and Sashi Brown. The staff they put together around Jesse Minter is far from the norm for this franchise or any other, with zero prior NFL head coaching experience anywhere, and a decidedly young, cheap and college-based bent. It’s created a sense of the unknown unlike any offseason in the last 20 years or so, since John Harbaugh was ushered in, but change was needed and change can be very, very good.

Of course, all this newness can also comes at a potential cost.

Even the great Mike Macdonald, former Ravens defensive coordinator extraordinaire and now the holder of the Lombardi Trophy as Seattle’s head coach, made some serious missteps with his initial staff and ended up firing an offensive coordinator after just one season. Some of these hires will prove to have been too much of a reach, and I’d bet a substantial amount that there will be real turnover after this maiden voyage.

Other assistants will also prove to be invaluable and trusted and will go down as sage hires. Based on conversations with people I trust around the league, these three stood out:

Mike Mickens, Pass Game Coordinator/Secondary

His work at Notre Dame, with what was becoming a factory for evaluating and developing top defensive backs, was getting heavy NFL attention from smart front offices. “I don’t think they get him to leave (Notre Dame) without the Minter connection,” said one longtime NFL executive who did considerable research on Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman and his staff in preparing for a head-coaching search. “That’s an inspired hire.”

Mickens has long ties to Minter, and his father, Rick, and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he works as well here with Minter as former Ravens secondary coach Dennard Wilson did with Macdonald the one year they were together in Baltimore. I had been hearing a buzz about Mickens as a coach on the rise for a few cycles. Should Minter have to deviate from how he expects to operate for any reason – putting out fires on special teams or the offense; needing to adjust his game-day role to exclude calling plays on defense – having a security blanket like this so steeped in this defense who can cover for him is vital.

Marcus Brady, Pass Game Coordinator

For the last two years he matched wits with Minter in practice with the Chargers, serving as Jim Harbaugh’s passing game coordinator. Having that kind of shared background, and those checks-and-balances on the other side of the ball is essential. I heard good things about the impact Brady had on the Eagles offense while in Philadelphia (certainly been plenty of drama there with that passing game since he left), and he is well respected and a badly-needed veteran voice on an offensive staff that begs plenty of questions coming in.

He doesn’t have the same titles in his career as Joe Lombardi, the Ravens Senior Offensive Assistant Coach, but people around the league prefer his pedigree. Part of me wonders if he becomes Lamar Jackson’s go-to guy on this staff, just a hunch. “I trust him much more designing a downfield passing game than I do Lombardi,” said one longtime NFL staffer who worked previously with Lombardi and knows the Sean Payton coaching family tree quite well. “That’s the perfect role for him.”

Dwayne Ledford – Offensive Line/Run Game Coordinator

Having a senior coach on the offensive side of the ball – beyond a position coach – who played the game at the NFL level can’t hurt, especially when the OC is this green. Heard rave reviews about his work in Atlanta, and this was a pivotal hire given how much transition the offensive line was likely to undergo from 2025 to 2026. All that change, losing a Pro Bowl center on free agency, having to install a new offense, and coach-up so many youngsters is a big bask.

Giving this hire to someone without decades in the game, and time spent very recently coaching at the NFL level, would have been a big mistake. “I can’t say I’m in love with that staff, but that’s a good hire,” said one general manager who was on the hunt for assistant coaches this offseason. “That guy can coach.” Having a known commodity in the pro game in that role was essential. Counting on Derrick Henry to just show up and rush for 1500 yards every year won’t be happening much longer, and Jackson’s 1,000-yard rushing season might be a thing of the past, too.

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