The Baltimore Ravens watched one of their former rising stars reach the pinnacle of success. Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald and his team did it. They captured the Lombardi Trophy and are the champions of Super Bowl 60.
Everyone in Charm City loved Macdonald. Ask any Ravens fan, and they’ll tell you that they knew he was capable of becoming a Super Bowl champion. They just wished that it had been in Baltimore instead of Seattle. Following the loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2023 AFC Championship, many wanted Macdonald to replace then-head coach John Harbaugh. Ultimately, Harbaugh stuck around another two years. Now, after Harbaugh was fired this offseason, Macdonald reaches the mountaintop.
It seems that the Ravens have their next rising star. They hired Jesse Minter to become their fourth head coach in franchise history. Minter shares a ton of characteristics with Macdonald and has drawn some comparisons since the hiring. Now, with Macdonald being able to call himself a champion, Minter may be facing some Super Bowl-sized expectations during his tenure in Baltimore.
Mike Macdonald raises the bar for Ravens’ Jesse Minter to live up to
Of course, this is somewhat of an unfair bar for Minter. Not many head coaches win a Super Bowl in their second year in charge. It’s been a meteoric rise for Macdonald. Still, with all the similarities in their careers as coordinators and assistants, there’s reason to believe that Minter can follow in Macdonald's footsteps.
The most obvious similarity is that both coaches are defensive minds who got their starts in Baltimore. The similar career paths go much deeper than that, though.
Both worked with defensive backs in Baltimore, left the NFL to become the defensive coordinator at Michigan, and eventually rose back to the professional level to become defensive coordinators. It also took Minter and Macdonald just two years to establish themselves as elite playcallers and earn an NFL head coaching job. Along those journeys, they learned under both John and Jim Harbaugh. Oh, and as the cherry on top, both Minter and Macdonald continue to hold those defensive playcalling duties as head coaches.
Minter is in the perfect spot to live up to the high expectations. The Ravens are a top-class organization, and already have a very strong roster. Not many teams with head coach vacancies usually have as much talent as Baltimore, but this offseason was an odd one. And of course, the team also has a two-time MVP in quarterback Lamar Jackson. That’s not too shabby of a supporting cast to start with as you try to get the Ravens back to the Super Bowl.