
The Baltimore Ravens are ending their head coaching search by bringing on board a familiar face.
Per an official announcement from the team, the Ravens are hiring Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter as their next head coach, replacing John Harbaugh after 18 years at the helm.
Your next coach of the Baltimore Ravens.
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) January 22, 2026
We have agreed to terms with Jesse Minter to be our head coach! pic.twitter.com/5VEBGk8iB1
Minter was speculated as the next Ravens head coach for a while, even before Harbaugh was let go by Baltimore. The Ravens firing Harbaugh was not due to a rejection of the team's culture but rather just needing a new voice. Minter brings a mix of the old with a hint of the new. And that's exactly what the Ravens were looking for.
Minter joined Harbaugh's staff with the Ravens in 2017 as a defensive assistant. He was then promoted to assistant defensive backs coach before becoming the defensive backs coach in 2020.
He spent the last two years working with John Harbaugh's brother, Jim, on the staff with the Chargers as their defensive coordinator. Before that, he was with Jim on the University of Michigan's staff as defensive coordinator, where he helped bring a national championship to Ann Arbor.
This past season, the Chargers had the fifth-best defense in the league, which is a sign that Minter knows how to run a strong defense. The Ravens' defensive unit did not play up to their usual standard this past season. Minter's job will be to turn that around in his first season with the Ravens as the head coach.
Minter brings a no-nonsense attitude to the Ravens, and he is hoping that will permeate from the top of the coaching staff to the bottom of the roster and practice squad.
"A lot of coaches have crazy egos, and I think there's a difference in being confident in yourself and sure of yourself, and then having an ego," Minter said via the team's website. "I've always tried really, really hard to not have an ego, to really try to build a situation where everybody feels like they have value, where everybody feels like they're part of the success."
It remains to be seen how Minter will build the rest of his staff, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see some assistants from the Chargers come over and some familiar faces with the Ravens to stick around. While John Harbaugh is expected to bring some of his coaching staff to the New York Giants, there could be some continuity from last year's staff to this one.
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