The Los Angeles Chargers are preparing for their upcoming wild-card matchup against the New England Patriots, and it’s clear this is going to be their most difficult contest of the season. The Chargers will have to trek to the East Coast, where Drake Maye and one of the most efficient offenses in the league are awaiting them.
And yet, while this game is very important, it’s not the only thing on defensive coordinator Jesse Minter‘s mind. With eight different head coach jobs opening up across the NFL, Minter has quickly emerged as one of the top candidates for several of these gigs. Minter knows this could be a huge stretch when it comes to his coaching career, but he insisted he’s focused on simply helping Los Angeles take down New England right now.
Jesse Minter Dishes on Head Coach Interest
It hasn’t always been pretty for the Chargers this season on either side of the ball, thanks in large part to a slew of injuries the team has dealt with, but they have managed to piece things together when they have needed to the most. On defense, Minter has gotten the most out of a talented defense that appears set to cause problems for the Patriots on Sunday.
In only his second year as Los Angeles’ defensive coordinator, Minter has quickly helped turn a unit that was perennially one of the worst units in the league during Brandon Staley’s tenure with the team into one of the best. With a strong front seven and a secondary that has made major strides, Minter’s work with this group has not gone unnoticed.
There are a handful of head coach openings that Minter has been linked to, and it appears as if he could be headed for the exit door this offseason. Considering how important a decision this would be for Minter’s career, it’s obviously on his mind, but for the time being, all he’s worried about is finding a way to help the Chargers advance to the divisional round of the playoffs.
“I think anybody in the profession that’s a competitor, eventually you want to have that opportunity,” Minter said on Thursday. “But right now, you’re playing the No. 2 seed Patriots. They’re 14-3, MVP-caliber quarterback … It’s easy to maintain your focus when you have that challenge.”
Jesse Minter, Chargers Aiming to Eliminate Patriots from the Playoffs
GettyLos Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter
With so many jobs open and Minter being considered one of the top head coach candidates in this cycle, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him land one of the vacant jobs across the league this offseason. With head coach interview requests coming in, this is obviously going to be a topic of discussion for Minter, but it’s something he can worry about later.
In the present, Minter has his hands full when it comes to figuring out how to slow down Maye and New England’s high-powered offense. While the Pats played a historically easy schedule this season, they frequently blew their opponents out of the water. If Minter can’t find a way to slow down Maye, he could be figuring out what his future looks like sooner than he’d like to.
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