Michigan football: Jesse Minter appears out of mix for NFL job
Michigan football was dealt an eyebrow-raising development recently with the news that the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles would interview defensive coordinator Jesse Minter for their vacated position. After a short process, it looks like the defending NFC Champions have decided to go in a different direction.
According to multiple media reports out of the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, the Eagles have zeroed in on Seattle Seahawks assistant Sean Desai for the position. Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll confirmed that Desai was on the way out the door in a combine session with the media. Michigan fans can now breathe a sigh of relief that their defensive play-caller and Broyles Award candidate will be sticking around.
The Eagles had an interest in college defensive coordinators, headlined by Minter and former Wisconsin DC Jim Leonard. Philadelphia is replacing Jonathan Gannon, who left the franchise to take the head coaching job with the Arizona Cardinals.
Minter, who was confirmed to have an interview with the Eagles, is entering the second season of a three-year contract he signed last off-season. He made $1.3 million last year after incentives and is set to make $925,000 in 2023, barring a potential pay raise for sticking around.
It seemingly caps off an off-season storyline of NFL interest in the Michigan football program. Head coach Jim Harbaugh went through another courtship this year, this time with the Denver Broncos. The two sides never came together on an agreement with Harbaugh deciding to stick with the Wolverines.
“It’s an ongoing thing,” Harbaugh said during a spring football press conference last week. “Something that we treat as a really positive thing, that NFL franchises, NFL teams have a lot of interest in all of our personnel — coaches, players, staff. If somebody in our organization feels like that’s going to benefit them professionally and personally, then we say have at it. We don’t hold anybody back. I think for the players, it’s got to be so many over the last eight years. It’s gotta be in the 80s or 90s over eight years — players that are in the NFL.
“Coaches — I think I’ve lost count how many coaches have gone to the NFL from here. Staff members, same. Right now, Jesse Minter is considering that. We just don’t hold them back. Calls come in. Calls come in; calls are taken; those conversations are had. There’s a few coaches on our staff that those calls came in and they decided to stay here at Michigan. I’m one of them.”
Minter and the Michigan coaching staff are currently working through spring football, which kicked off on Feb. 20. The practices will conclude with the spring game at Michigan Stadium on April 1.
