Entering the 2024 NFL season, the Los Angeles Chargers made a splashy head coaching hire, agreeing to terms with Jim Harbaugh, who had just won a national championship with the Michigan Wolverines.
But during Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos, Harbaugh briefly had to go to the locker room with an illness. Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter stepped up as the Chargers’ interim head coach. Let’s examine Minter’s coaching career and how he got to this point.
Who Is the Chargers’ Defensive Coordinator?
Minter was a wide receiver at Mount St. Joseph University, but his specialty as a coach has been on the defensive side of the ball. Minter served as an assistant coach under Harbaugh at Michigan, as he was the Wolverines’ defensive coordinator in 2022 and 2023. Once Harbaugh accepted the Chargers’ head coaching gig, Minter followed him to the pros.
However, this isn’t Minter’s first time coaching at the NFL level. From 2017 to 2020, he coached under Jim’s brother, John Harbaugh, as a member of the Baltimore Ravens’ coaching staff. He started as a defensive assistant in 2017 and 2018, then moved to assistant defensive backs coach in 2019 and defensive backs coach in 2020.
Minter has been coaching since 2006, when he got his start as a defensive intern at Notre Dame. In addition to his NFL experience with the Chargers and Ravens, Minter has also had collegiate stints with Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Indiana State, Georgia State, Vanderbilt, and Michigan over the course of his 18-year coaching career.
Minter is off to a terrific start with the Chargers’ defense, as Los Angeles is allowing a league-low 1.11 points per drive this season. If the Chargers can sustain that rate for the remainder of the season, it would be the lowest points per drive allowed since the 2019 New England Patriots (1.02 points per drive). Also, Los Angeles is currently allowing the fewest points per game (12.5) and fifth-fewest yards per game (282.5).
Jim Harbaugh returns after going to the locker room with an illness.
Jesse Minter was the Chargers’ acting head coach for the brief period in which Harbaugh was not on the sideline. pic.twitter.com/OMFwCol3g8
— Clayton Sayfie (@CSayf23) October 13, 2024
Minter got his first taste of what it’s like to be a head coach in the NFL today against the Broncos, with Harbaugh limited due to an illness. Harbaugh recently returned to the game, but Minter is ready to step up and fill in if needed.
Who Was the Chargers’ Last Defensive Coordinator?
Before Harbaugh was hired and brought Minter to Los Angeles, the Chargers’ defensive coordinator was Derrick Ansley.
Ansley only served as the Chargers’ DC for one season, as the team struggled to a 5-12 record, and he was let go along with head coach Brandon Staley.
Ansley had previously served as Los Angeles’ defensive backs coach from 2021 and 2022, so he was an internal promotion, replacing Renaldo Hill (the team’s defensive coordinator in 2021 and 2022).
Under Ansley, the Chargers allowed the fifth-most yards per game (370.8) and 10th-most points per game (23.4) among all NFL teams.
Interestingly, after nearly two decades of coaching on the defensive side of the ball, Ansley recently pivoted to an offensive coaching role. The Green Bay Packers hired Ansley as their passing game coordinator this season.