Jim Harbaugh’s new era with the Los Angeles Chargers is already facing a major test. With his championship-winning defensive coordinator Jesse Minter leaving for Baltimore, Harbaugh has been forced to make an immediate coaching decision, and he’s already zeroing in on a top candidate to fill the void.

“The Chargers have requested Rams assistant head coach/defensive pass game coordinator Aubrey Pleasant to interview for their vacant DC job,” insider Ian Rapoport wrote.

On paper, it’s a move that makes plenty of sense. Pleasant is currently part of a contender, working with a defense that finished 10th in points allowed and fifth in takeaways during the 2025 season. That’s pretty solid production. With thirteen years of NFL coaching experience, he knows how the league operates.

He went undrafted out of Wisconsin in 2009 and started at the high school level, grinding his way into the profession. In 2011, he joined Michigan as a defensive graduate assistant, then earned a promotion to assistant defensive backs coach a year later. He continued to move up from there.

His NFL break came in 2013 as a coaching intern with the Cleveland Browns. Pleasant then moved on to Washington, where he began as an offensive assistant before shifting to defense as a quality control coach from 2014 to 2016. That flexibility has followed him ever since. He joined the Los Angeles Rams in 2017 as their cornerbacks coach and held that role through 2020.

He followed that with stops with the Lions and Packers, before he returned to the Rams in 2023, where his influence has shown up most clearly in the secondary. Last season, that unit ranked 12th in completions allowed, giving up 254, and tied for 12th in interceptions with 13.

And if Pleasant were to land the Chargers job, pairing him with offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel would make for an intriguing staff dynamic. McDaniel comes from the Kyle Shanahan side of the league, having served as offensive coordinator under Kyle Shanahan with the San Francisco 49ers.

Pleasant wouldn’t be far removed from that same coaching ecosystem. Rams head coach Sean McVay worked alongside Shanahan at multiple stops, and those philosophies tend to overlap more than people admit. If Pleasant ends up getting the job, that connection will be interesting as their shared philosophical DNA could lead to a synchronized approach between the offense and defense.

The reality remains unchanged. Whether it’s Pleasant or another candidate, replacing Jesse Minter won’t be easy.

Can anyone replace Jesse Minter?

Former Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter is on the move again, this time heading to the Baltimore Ravens as the fourth head coach in franchise history. For Baltimore, it’s a homecoming for Minter. Minter spent four seasons there from 2017 to 2020, working his way up from a defensive assistant to defensive backs coach.

The Chargers will definitely feel his absence. Minter was only in Los Angeles for two seasons, but his imprint was clear. Under his watch, the Chargers finished this past season allowing the fifth-fewest yards in the league. That came one year after they led the NFL in scoring defense, giving up just 17.7 points per game.

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There’s a reason Baltimore moved quickly, even with several respected names on the market. Coaches like Vance Joseph, Mike McDaniel, Chris Shula, Matt Nagy, and Brian Flores all lined up to interview for the Ravens. Despite a field of respected candidates, the Ravens moved quickly to land Minter, a coach they already knew well.

Minter spent two seasons at Michigan, where he helped deliver a national championship in 2023 alongside head coach Jim Harbaugh. Harbaugh would have liked to keep him around in some capacity, but he knows Minter is meant to be a head coach. He probably wanted that for him.

But then again, he’s also been a fan of Aubrey Pleasant. According to reporter Trevor McCue, Jim Harbaugh tried to bring Pleasant to Michigan during his time there.