Super Bowl winner, national champion DC added to Raiders coaching mix
John Harbaugh gave Jesse Minter his first opportunity to coach in the NFL when he hired him as a defensive assistant in 2017.
Now they both might be candidates for the same job in Las Vegas.
The Raiders have requested an interview with Minter, the Chargers’ defensive coordinator, just hours after Los Angeles was bounced from the postseason with a loss to the Patriots, the Review-Journal has confirmed.
They have also joined the mix for the services of the Super Bowl-winning former head coach of the Ravens, who parted ways with Baltimore last week.
The two candidates have a connection that goes beyond Minter’s current boss being Harbaugh’s brother Jim with the Chargers.
Minter, 42, took his first NFL coaching job with the Ravens under John Harbaugh, 63, in 2017, working his way up to defensive backs coach in 2020. After a year at Vanderbilt, he joined Jim Harbaugh at Michigan as defensive coordinator.
Minter then went to the Chargers with Jim Harbaugh last year. The Ravens, Browns and Titans have all also reportedly put in requests to interview Minter, who is expected to be one of the hottest candidates this cycle.
So is John Harbaugh, who is believed to have been contacted by every team with an open head coaching job. Sources indicate conversations have taken place with the Raiders, though a recent report about his demands suggested he may want to select his own general manager and that is likely a non-starter for the Raiders with general manager John Spytek running football operations alongside his college teammate and minority owner Tom Brady.
Brady and Spytek played together at Michigan, where Minter won a national championship as defensive coordinator.
Minter has a show-cause penalty imposed by the NCAA in April 2025. The sanction means he can’t coach in college for one year after getting hired because of penalties from recruiting. The NFL does not enforce those sanctions.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.
