Jesse Minter reflects on career leading him to this point with Michigan
Michigan Wolverines defensive coordinator Jesse Minter worked at just about every level of football, including the Group of Five, FCS, NFL, and the Power Five before landing at Michigan. It was a journey that prepared him to be the Wolverines’ defensive coordinator.
Ahead of the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, Minter reflected on that journey and how it prepared him for the moment.
“I think when you are young, you really learn to try to figure things out,” Jesse Minter said. “Don’t have the experience at the time, and so that was almost like starting a program from scratch when we went there. I think those types of places at the G5 or other places where maybe resources aren’t as high, you try to learn to use the resources you have, try to maximize your talent. Really loved my time there, loved living there, loved the school, loved the people there, and really had a great experience to sort of hone my craft there in the four years I was there.”
For Minter, the most important lesson he learned is that the most important thing is the players themselves.
“It’s still really about the players. I had just been at Indiana State where we had a really good defense. You go there and learn quickly that it’s about accumulating talent and teaching and developing. Something, like I said, I feel good about what we were able to do there, but it’s about trying to acquire talent and then develop players, and I think that’s the success now that we have at Michigan is a direct reflection of that.”
Jesse Minter compares working for Jim, John Harbaugh
Along with being the defensive coordinator at Michigan, Jesse Minter has also worked in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens. Interestingly, there he worked under Jim Harbaugh‘s brother, John Harbaugh.
“They’re so similar. They’re both just elite leaders. They can bring people together. They can get guys to play as a team but still have their personality and still let their personality shine. So both have just great cultures in their locker rooms, great team, great staff culture, and just both are two of the best leaders in all of sports. Both places with both Coach Harbaughs, I think the way they operate is very similar. What I mean by that is it might not be a ton of bells and whistles in our program, but anything we can do to maximize the players’ ability to develop as players I think is where we put our resources. You are talking about the strength program, the weight room, the facilities. If you look at our program, it’s about player development,” Minter said.
“That’s the epicenter of our program and where we’ve been good. I think it was the same thing in the NFL. I think that’s an underrated thing that the Ravens are really, really good at is drafting players and developing them, and they have so many homegrown players now that are playing key roles for them as they’re striving to win the Super Bowl. I think player development is the epicenter of that for both those teams.”