Tag: Jesse Minter

Early signs pointing to Derwin James wearing green dot for Chargers during 2024 season

Derwin James was spotted wearing what appeared to be a communications device at voluntary veteran minicamp.

The Chargers uploaded a series of photos from their voluntary veteran minicamp to the team’s website. Perhaps most interestingly, a picture of Derwin James wearing a communications device was uploaded.

Historically, players wearing an earpiece are usually relaying signal calls from the defensive coordinator. In this case, James would be the primary green dot play caller for Jesse Minter.

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James has worked as the team’s green dot previously. Last season, Brandon Staley handed the signal-calling responsibilities to a newly signed free agent in Eric Kendricks entering 2023. After an injury to Kendricks and an early defensive tailspin for the team, the green dot role went back to Kenneth Murray.

James had signal-calling responsibilities in both 2021 and parts of 2022. In 2022, Staley wanted to free up James’ ability to make plays by giving green dot responsibility to former Charger Drue Tranquill early in the season. It was a change of philosophy for Staley relative to how he talked about James’ role when he first was hired.

It’s still too early to suggest that James is getting the green dot role back relative to other options. With the draft quickly approaching, one has to wonder if the Chargers take a linebacker fairly early. Los Angeles publicly met with Michigan’s Junior Colson and Texas A&M’s Edgerrin Cooper in Top 30 visits.

While we’re still a long way away from August and September, James’ contentment with being Minter’s signal relayer is nonetheless interesting and a potentially marked change.

2024 NFL draft: Chargers hosted CB Nate Wiggins on visit

Nate Wiggins is one of the better cornerbacks in this year’s class.

The Chargers hosted Clemson cornerback Nate Wiggins on a pre-draft visit, per his Instagram story.

Wiggins was a productive college player. He registered 14 pass deflections in 2022 and eight breakups with two interceptions in 2023. He returned an interception for a touchdown in each of his final two seasons.

Wiggins is a tall and long corner who possesses great athletic traits, having the speed and quickness to run with anyone, as well as great instincts. Additionally, he is versatile to play in different schemes.

The Chargers will be looking for more playmakers in the secondary for defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, and Wiggins fits what he covets at the position.

Wiggins projects as a late Round 1 selection, making him a target if the Bolts trade down and add more picks.

2024 NFL draft: Chargers hosted LB Junior Colson on top 30 visit

Junior Colson reunited with some of his former coaches from Michigan.

According to The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, Michigan linebacker Junior Colson is meeting with “friendly faces” in Los Angeles for a top-30 visit with the Chargers.

Presumably, Colson would be reunited with former Michigan coaches Jim Harbaugh and Jesse Minter at the Chargers’ Costa Mesa facility. It would mark the team’s second official top-30 visit for a Wolverine player in this cycle. Blake Corum had a meeting with the Bolts about two weeks ago.

Colson is arguably the headliner of this linebacker class, along with names like Payton Wilson and Edgerrin Cooper. The Chargers also met with Cooper on April 4th. It looks like LA is at least doing its research on a linebacker class that is viewed as top-heavy by many.

The former Michigan national championship linebacker is considered to be one of the best in coverage in the class. Colson registered an 83.4 PFF grade in coverage in 2023 and run defense grades of 80+ in each of the last two seasons.

The Chargers need more true starting-caliber linebackers even after the signing of Denzel Perryman. Colson, and presumably Daiyan Henley, would go a long way in nullifying some of Perryman’s known coverage deficiencies at his age.

Given Colson’s relationship with Minter, one has to wonder if he’s a potential dark horse candidate to take up green-dot play-calling responsibilities if drafted by the team.

When first hired, Minter stressed the importance of not overwhelming star safety Derwin James with responsibilities. While James could theoretically take over the green dot role post-Brandon Staley, it would be interesting to see if the new Chargers’ defensive coordinator looks towards another name on the defensive side of the ball instead. Colson would undoubtedly be a contender for that responsibility if drafted by LA.

Chargers DC Jesse Minter heaps high praise on Tuli Tuipulotu: ‘Didn’t look like a rookie’

Tuli Tuipulotu is coming off an outstanding rookie season.

Among the players returning that will be vital in Jesse Minter’s defense is edge defender Tuli Tuipulotu, who had an outstanding rookie season.

Minter is familiar with Tuipulotu’s skillset, having watched college film of him while he was at USC, and highlighted his versatility in an interview with team writer Eric Smith.

“I think his last year, we might have had one team that we were watching where there was some crossover film of USC,” Minter said. “The cool thing about him is he’s a guy in college that they moved all over the place — off the ball, up on the edge, they even had him played out in space a little bit.”

Tuipulotu, the former second-round pick, was a monster off the edge, finishing with the second-most quarterback pressures among rookies (51) and an 88.4 run defense grade that only trailed greats Maxx Crosby, DeMarcus Lawrence and Khalil Mack.

“You look at how he played his rookie year and I thought he stepped in and played really well for a rookie,” Minter added. “Didn’t look like a rookie, didn’t feel like a rookie when you were watching him. He plays with the toughness and the physicality that we certainly want our guys to play with.”

Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack’s future with the Chargers is up in the air, as they could be moved to clear up cap space. But one thing that is certain is that Tuipulotu will be on the roster next season and he will be a key piece of Minter’s defense.

Chargers DC Jesse Minter ‘excited to unleash’ Derwin James

Jesse Minter revealed how excited he is to work with the star defensive back.

In a sitdown interview with the Chargers’ Senior Writer Eric Smith, Jesse Minter was asked about the vision for safety Derwin James thriving in his defense. In a rather lengthy response, Minter revealed his excitement to work with the star defensive back.

On his usage, Minter said:

I’m excited just to sort of try to try to unleash Derwin. No. 1, put him in positions to best utilize his skills and — he can do a lot of stuff — but I also think there’s a fine line. Like, ‘Let’s try to maximize Derwin and allow him to do the things that he’s really, really good at as much as possible.’ Sometimes you can get a guy like that and you can almost do too much with him and move him around too much. I want him to understand the concepts of the defense so that there’s certainly times that we can maximize his skillset.

James struggled at points last year when more was placed on his plate in reference to Brandon Staley’s STAR position. He had his slot cornerback snaps slashed in the last two weeks while his proportion of box and free safety snaps increased. The result? James had his highest PFF-graded game of the season against the Broncos and turned in a solid performance against the Chiefs.

The Chargers should still use the athletic versatility of James when they have the opportunity to, but it should be less heavily relied upon in the context of the whole defense.

Minter continued by mentioning James’ eagerness to get to work.

An elite cover guy, particularly on tight ends. And then he’s a physical presence over the middle of the field at the safety position. We want to put him in a position to use his strengths and do all that stuff to the best of his ability But really just most excited about his leadership skills, his eagerness. I feel like he stopped by my office every day the first couple of weeks I was here. He just wanted to talk and wanted to kind of get to know me and what we were trying to build. I like it to look at it as a partnership with these guys. Now we’re in this thing together, we’re building this thing together. Really excited about Derwin and the capabilities he has.

Chargers announce 2024 coaching staff

The Chargers have announced the members of head coach Jim Harbaugh’s coaching staff for the 2024 season.

The Chargers have announced the members of head coach Jim Harbaugh’s coaching staff for the 2024 season.

Some of the biggest names were already known as the hirings of offensive coordinator Greg Roman and defensive coordinator Jesse Minter and the holdover of special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken.

Roman will be working with passing game coordinator Marcus Brady, quarterbacks coach Shane Day, run game coordinator/tight ends coach Andy Bischoff, wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal, offensive line coach Mike Devlin, and senior offensive assistant Marc Trestman.

Linebackers coach NaVorro Bowman, defensive line coach Mike Elston, defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale, safeties coach Chris O’Leary, senior defensive assistant Rick Minter, defensive assistant Dylan Roney, and defensive quality control Robert Muschamp will work with Minter.

Assistant special teams coach Chris Gould rounds out the group.

Several spots on the coaching roster, including running backs coach, still need to be filled.

Here’s who’s on Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers coaching staff

Here’s a look at who’s onboard the Chargers coaching staff as it continues to take shape.

Since being hired as head coach of the Chargers, Jim Harbaugh has been hard at work to build out his staff.

Here’s a look at who’s onboard as it continues to take shape:

Report: Chargers hiring Chris O’Leary as safeties coach

Chris O’Leary reunites with Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter.

The Chargers are hiring Chris O’Leary as their safeties coach, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

O’Leary finished his third season as Notre Dame’s safeties coach, establishing himself as a quality position coach for head coach Marcus Freeman.

O’Leary was credited for working with Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton, a first-round pick by Baltimore in the 2022 NFL draft. This past season, O’Leary worked with the Nagurski Trophy winner, Xavier Watts, who led the nation in interceptions.

O’Leary started as a defensive analyst in 2018. O’Leary held the titles of senior football analyst in 2019 and defensive graduate assistant before being promoted to safeties coach. In 2020, he helped coach now Browns linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, who won the Butkus Award.

O’Leary reunites with Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter as they coached together at Georgia State and O’Leary played at Indiana State during Minter’s time as an assistant coach.

Chargers retaining special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken

Ryan Ficken has been a key member of the Chargers coaching staff.

Despite all the turnover in the coaching staff, the Chargers are retaining a key member.

According to multiple reports, special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken is staying in Los Angeles on Jim Harbaugh’s staff.

Hired to oversee the Bolts’ special teams two years ago, Ficken engineered some of the best units in the NFL in that timeframe.

Before joining the Chargers, Ficken spent the first 15 years of his NFL career with the Vikings, serving as the team’s special teams coordinator in 2021 after assisting the group for the prior eight seasons.

6 reasons Chargers fans should be hopeful for next season

Fans of the powder blues should be ecstatic for next season.

The Chargers are not only having an electric offseason, but the franchise itself is undergoing a striking transformation. Fans of the powder blues should be ecstatic for next season and here are six reasons why.

Jim Harbaugh

The man. The myth. The legend. Harbaugh has already begun to change the culture of the Chargers organization. It’s like a Hollywood movie, a dream come true. Harbaugh not only takes the team to new heights, but brings a household sports name to the Los Angeles team. Harbaugh is known for rescuing losing teams and reshaping them into winning programs. He’s done so with Stanford, the 49ers and Michigan. Fans have been craving a purposeful change for years–and Harbaugh is it. 

Justin Herbert

Harbaugh said it best: Herbert is the “crown jewel of the NFL.” Chargers fans have known this since he started for the team, but other football fans have had their doubts about Herbert. This is because the Bolts’ most prized possession has been overshadowed by a struggling team. Nevertheless, Herbert is a talented asset on the field and has proven so time and time again. With a new coach leading the way, it’s likely Herbert will have his best season as he gets to develop under such a valuable teacher like Harbaugh and an offensive mindset in Greg Roman, who should aid Herbert by elevating the run and play-action game. 

Jesse Minter

Under Minter, Michigan had one of the most dominant units in all of college football, finishing in the top 10 in various categories. If you watched the Wolverines on defense the past two seasons, you would be able to take away that they attacked aggressively and made life difficult for opposing offenses. Minter believes in adapting the defense to your best players and your opponent, not forcing your players into your defense. This will apply to players like Derwin James, who struggled in Brandon Staley’s defense as he was forced to do too much.

The front office

In Harbaugh’s introductory press conference, he stressed the importance of the team’s togetherness. It may seem insignificant, but it’s unmistakable that everybody has the same goal starting from the top of the organization–everybody wants to win. The Spanos family hiring Harbaugh essentially remade the franchise. The front office made the right moves in the offseason to set up the team for success and it is sure to be one of the organization’s most exciting seasons. 

Joe Hortiz

While Harbaugh should have an impact on the Chargers, Hortiz should just as much, too. Hortiz was with the Ravens for a long time, where he helped build one of the most talented rosters in the league during his tenure. He has a good eye for talent in free agency and the draft. This should pay dividends when it comes to reconstructing the roster now and in the future.

No. 5 overall pick in the draft

As if this offseason couldn’t be any sweeter, the Chargers have the fifth overall pick in the upcoming draft. Though it’s unclear what position they will be going for, this is an opportunity to add even more star power to the team with someone like LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers or Georgia tight end Brock Bowers. Hortiz revealed that the team will be choosing the best player available in every round they have a pick.