Chargers DC Jesse Minter is already getting head coach hype

The Los Angeles Chargers might not be able to hold onto defensive coordinator Jesse Minter for very long.

That’s one of those sinking-feeling realizations Charges fans have probably come to understand over the last few weeks as Minter’s defense continues to be downright elite.

An understudy of Jim Harbaugh, Minter’s first year on the job features a unit allowing less than 13 points per game on average, tops in the NFL, despite featuring a hodgepodge of mid-value free agents and castoffs in key spots, like Poona Ford on the interior and Elijah Molden in the secondary, a late-August trade acquisition.

Heck, Minter is yet to get a real full game from the injured Joey Bosa – and he’s starting two fifth-round rookies at cornerback.

Hence head coach hype from Bradley Locker of Pro Football Focus: “After one truly elite season, Mike Macdonald went from relative unknown to extreme commodity, landing a job only one cycle in. It feels like the 41-year-old is on a fast track to follow suit.”

Whether Minter would actually leave after just one season hinges on many different things. The hiring cycle has to actually want defensive coaches. Minter would actually have to want to leave a possible contender under Harbaugh for a likely complete rebuild. The Chargers would have to (or not) open up the checkbook to keep him. It goes on and on.

But given the defense’s performance so far, especially in a soft “rebuild” year, it’s no great shock Minter appears on lists like this already.

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Updated 11/9 am

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