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New Baltimore Ravens head coach Jesse Minter during his introductory press conference.
For the first time in nearly two decades, the Baltimore Ravens will go into a season without John Harbaugh at the helm. Jesse Minter will be tasked with following in the footsteps of the most successful coach in Ravens franchise history; however, Minter is ready to embrace the challenge, as coaching has always been in his blood.
Jesse’s father, Rick Minter, was the head coach at the University of Cincinnati from 1994 to 2003 and has nearly 50 years of coaching experience, including as a defensive coordinator at eight other stops.
Jesse has always leaned on his father, Rick, for advice throughout his coaching career, and the two have worked together since 2006, when both were at Notre Dame. They have also coached together at Indiana State, Georgia State, the University of Michigan, and the Los Angeles Chargers, and now it’s only fitting that Jesse is bringing Rick onto his coaching staff in Baltimore.
Familiarity
Ravens head coach Jesse Minter is a first-time head coach at any level. He will need to rely on others’ experience for help in certain areas, and what better place than his own father, Rick?
Rick Minter got his first look at the kind of coach Jesse was developing into when they coached together at Georgia State. Rick was impressed by how Jesse interacted with players and ran meetings as the defensive coordinator. Clifton Brown, in his February 5 article for Ravens.com, wrote about Rick’s impressions of Jesse as a coach.
“It was role reversal, I was working for Jesse,” Rick said. “He was the boss. I got to see him in a true leadership role. I started to see how he put things together, how he analyzes the game.”
Rick went on to discuss how Jesse has shown these same intangibles everywhere he’s coached.
“It’s very impressive how he’s able to break down an opposing offense, put together a workable plan, get the players to buy in,” Rick said. “He’s done that at Michigan, he’s done it with the Chargers, but he’s been doing it for a long time.”
What Rick saw in Jesse as a coach is what he saw in the Ravens previous head coach, John Harbaugh.
John Harbaugh Clone
When Jesse Minter was looking for another coaching job following his stint at Georgia State, his father, Rick, called John Harbaugh to see if Jesse could get an interview. Harbaugh obliged, and Jesse aced the interview.
Jesse spent four seasons as a Ravens defensive coach under Harbaugh, and Rick knew the two would get along because they were so similar. Jonas Shaffer of the Baltimore Banner, in his February 9 article, wrote about Rick recommending Jesse to Harbaugh.
“I asked John to take a hard look at Jesse,” Rick said. His pitch to Harbaugh, who by then had spent nearly a decade as the Ravens’ head coach, was simple and flattering. “I said, ‘John, Jesse is exactly like you. He’s a clone of John Harbaugh,” Rick continued. “…I mean, all the attributes you would write about John Harbaugh over his 18 years [as Ravens coach] are Jesse Minter qualities.”
Now, while Jesse is following in Harbaugh’s footsteps, he wants to forge his own path and make his own mark as the Ravens’ head coach. And to start, he’ll have his father by his side.
Chad Gelfand Chad Gelfand is a journalist covering the NFL with focus on the Baltimore Ravens, Seattle Seahawks, and Carolina Panthers for Heavy.com. Gelfand has over six years of writing experience.
Gelfand previously covered the Philadelphia Eagles for Last Word On Sports. He also has experience writing in the worlds of entertainment and wrestling.
Gelfand was an Entertainment writer for the List.com, and a contributor for Fansided’s wrestling website Daily DDT and The Wrestling Estate. Gelfand has also appeared multiple times as a guest on POST Wrestling’s “Bushby and Thompson’s Wrestling Adventure” podcast. More about Chad Gelfand
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