Andrew Buller-Russ
For the first time since 2008, someone other than John Harbaugh will be coaching the Baltimore Ravens. That someone is Jesse Minter, a defensive specialist who helped Michigan win the College Football Playoff national championship in 2023. But Minter has also excelled at the NFL level, most recently as the defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Chargers, leading them to the fewest and ninth-fewest points allowed in the past two seasons.
Now, he takes his talent to Baltimore, which has stocked up on potential high-impact defenders in recent years, but still finished 18th in points allowed in 2025. The hope is that Minter can maximize the Ravens’ potential, and he’ll get to work with a collection of recent first-round picks.
Malaki Starks Set to Work With Jon Gruden
While Minter surely has something unique to offer the talent Baltimore has on hand, one of his new players isn’t looking to the first-year head coach for help. Instead, Malaki Starks, the 27th overall pick in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, is turning to Jon Gruden.
Starks sat down with The Athletic‘s Jeff Zrebiec last week, where he says he worked with Gruden during the pre-draft process a year ago, and he’d like to learn more from the former Super Bowl-winning head coach.
“I’m going to get back with Jon Gruden. I trained with him before the draft, so I’m going to get back with him and pick his brain a little bit. It’s awesome. I trained with him for the draft. He prepped me for the draft and we’ve been really cool ever since. Just to learn from a guy like him and have him as a resource, I think it will be huge.”
Malaki Starks on offseason plan
The former Buccaneers and Raiders head coach hasn’t led an NFL team since 2021. He spent some time with the New Orleans Saints as a consultant after they acquired Gruden’s former Raiders QB Derek Carr in 2023. Otherwise, Gruden’s work has consisted of showing up to training camp with various teams, offering his insight wherever he can.
Now that work is set to continue, only this time Starks will be getting some 1-on-1 coaching from Gruden, who clearly still has a lot of passion for the game.
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