The sharp left turn of the John Harbaugh era proved to be more of a merger path for the Baltimore Ravens.
For eight years of his coaching career, Jesse Minter coached on John Harbaugh’s staff as a position assistant or anchored as defensive coordinator for Harbaugh’s brother, Jim. He now becomes the agent of change chosen to replace John.. He now returns to work with Eric DeCosta, who made his transition from assistant general manager to full general manager during Minter’s first four years as a Ravens assistant. Now he will guide Lamar Jacksonwhose first three years as an NFL player overlapped with Minter’s time on the Baltimore team.
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This is what a known commodity looks like. From DeCosta and Jackson to team owner Steve Bisciotti. This is also what a Harbaugh product looks like, lending some lingering curiosities to what looks like a hand-in-hand fit.
These curiosities revolve around Jackson and what this hire means for the future of the Ravens and a franchise quarterback who currently has two years left on his contract and 20 questions about how it will all culminate in the Super Bowl breakthrough that Baltimore is aiming for.
From a grassroots perspective, there is no doubt that Minter appears to be a very good signing. Not only does he present himself as a young 42-year-old with potentially decades of NFL coaching ahead of him, but his coaching creativity and intuitive ability to bond with his players echo former Ravens assistant Mike Macdonald. The same Macdonald who left the John Harbaugh tree to become a revelation as a head coach with the Seattle Seahawks the last two seasons, culminating with (so far) an appearance in Sunday’s NFC title game. Like Macdonald before him, Minter seemed destined to get a head coaching shot, and this cycle did not disappoint. He was a finalist for the Atlanta Falcons job before it was awarded to Kevin Stefanski, and he was scheduled to have a second interview with the Las Vegas Raiders And Cleveland Browns before the Ravens hired him.
All this gives you different advantages over hiring Minter. He was a very productive defensive coordinator with the Chargers who made him a highly sought after head coaching candidate. And the hope, clearly, is that he can instantly spin the kind of gold with the Ravens that Macdonald has with the Seahawks. If this comes to fruition – and Minter carves out the kind of head coaching career that either Harbaugh achieved – it means he is as much the future of the Ravens as Jackson. If not more.
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And this is where it gets interesting because we’re still waiting to see how the upcoming moves will ultimately impact Jackson. Already, the idea that Baltimore would pair its quarterback with an offensive-minded head coach has been laid to rest. Harbaugh was not that. And now Minter is no longer that. It’s a reality that makes the hiring of the Ravens’ offensive coordinator — and Jackson’s contribution to that hiring — a critical decision. As it stands, Bisciotti has publicly opened the door to Jackson’s intervention on the head coach hiring. To this day, we do not know if Jackson took advantage of this opportunity.
Now the question arises as to his involvement in replacing the next offensive coordinator. Not to mention what Jackson thinks of Minter and the franchise’s new but familiar direction. Certainly, Minter will be asked plenty of questions about Jackson during his introductory press conference. What type of communication did the two have during the process? Is there a pre-existing relationship from Minter’s time as a defensive assistant for the Ravens? And how will that factor into the contract extension Baltimore wants to do with Jackson between now and the start of free agency?
If that makes it seem like Minter’s hiring created more questions about Jackson’s future than it answered, that’s probably because it did. And the answers will have to come from the head coach and the quarterback, whose relationship will be the deciding factor in whether Minter’s first two years as Ravens head coach end up being Jackson’s last two years as the team’s franchise quarterback.
Minter could represent the best-case scenario in Baltimore, which would be to inject new energy into the building and Jackson, then take it to the Super Bowl that has eluded the Ravens star. But Minter could also be there to transition to life after Jackson, if for some reason there’s no extension in sight and the Ravens need to make a drastic change. While this is certainly not an apples-to-apples comparison of talent or performance, it’s worth noting that part of Macdonald’s success in Seattle has to do with the transition from Geno Smith has Sam Darnold.
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It’s nothing like what it would feel like to possibly walk away from Jackson, which would be a seismic event in the franchise and in the city. It’s hard to even fathom at this point, with Minter’s hiring clearly intended to inspire some sort of redress for the Jackson situation. But even the levels of repair needed remain nebulous at this point, as neither Jackson nor the Ravens have publicly made public the flaw — or blockage — that made John Harbaugh’s departure necessary.
Perhaps the closest we got was in Bisciotti’s statement about the hiring Thursday, when he called Minter “(A) leader who will authentically connect with our players and inspire them to championship levels.” “Authentic connection” seems to be a Jackson subtext, seeming to make the connection between coach and quarterback one of the highest priorities.
For his part, Jackson hasn’t said anything yet. Regardless of what he says, his willingness to extend his contract over the next two months will speak volumes. With a gargantuan salary cap hit of $74.5 million each for the next two seasons, it is imperative for the Ravens to secure an extension before free agency in order to provide operational cap space and free agency flexibility. If Jackson doesn’t extend this extension, it will likely force Baltimore to restructure its deal and inject money into future years – which is like taking an issue and pushing it back. It’s complicated and would tell a telling reflection of Jackson’s relationship with the property.
For now, we’ll wait to hear what Minter has to say about Jackson and vice versa. There is reason to believe this will be a good partnership. But questions remain, and they begin when Minter takes the podium as the Ravens’ first answer to making the most of the next phase of Jackson’s career.
