Jesse Minter may have been the Ravens’ choice for head coach either way, and all along, but the Raiders made them rush. With Las Vegas still looking for theirs, and evidently eyeing Minter, Baltimore had to forego a prolonged interview process. Shortly after fulfilling their Rooney Rule and interview obligations, they announced the deal, refusing to risk losing him.
At least that’s according to long-time beat writer Jeff Zrebiec, writing for The Athletic. The Steelers also appeared to rush their process in signing Mike McCarthy—even though nobody else seemed to be interested. Not so for Minter, whom the Steelers also had an initial interview with.
“Waiting to interview more candidates — coaches participating in Sunday’s conference championship games aren’t permitted to meet with teams until next week — suddenly felt perilous”, Zrebiec wrote. “The Las Vegas Raiders were making a push for Minter, and the Ravens risked losing a guy who had aced the interview process and checked just about every box in their head-coaching search”.
He adds that a number of candidates impressed them, and they were open to bringing others in for second interviews. “[Davis] Webb, [Nate] Scheelhaase and [Chris] Shula were all potential targets for second interviews next week if the search had persisted through the weekend”, he wrote. “However, it didn’t because the Raiders helped the Ravens make a decision that they might have made by the middle of next week anyway”.
Jesse Minter is a 42-year-old first-time head coach who has worked for the Ravens in the past. Beginning his coaching career at Notre Dame in 2006, he saw his first NFL opportunity under John Harbaugh in Baltimore. Over four seasons with the Ravens, he ascended from defensive assistant to defensive backs coach. From there, he moved on to defensive coordinator jobs, including the last two years under Jim Harbaugh with the Chargers.
This cycle opened 10 head coach jobs around the league, seven of which were filled before the conference finals. The Raiders remain without one, as do the Cardinals and the Browns. The Ravens and Steelers were among the teams, with their hires of Minter and McCarthy, who were unwilling to wait for the opportunity to interview coaches whose teams were still playing.
But when you have your guy, I suppose it doesn’t really matter. After all, the Ravens did interview 20 candidates, including Shula, before hiring Jesse Minter following a formal interview. If he was their guy, then he was their guy. Whether a subsequent round of interviews might have changed that, we’ll never know. That’s how the Steelers ended up hiring Mike Tomlin nearly two decades ago.
It’s worth noting that while Baltimore fired John Harbaugh after 18 seasons, they are not looking for a reset. By hiring Jesse Minter, who worked under Harbaugh for four years—and for his brother for another four—there is some cultural continuity that comes with it.