With Jesse Minter departing the Chargers to become Ravens head coach, Los Angeles has started conducting interviews to find his replacement.
The Chargers announced Titans defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson has interviewed for the position on Friday.
Wilson, 43, spent the last two seasons with Tennessee as defensive coordinator. He does have ties to the Harbaughs, as he was Baltimore’s defensive backs coach in 2023.
Since entering the league as a defensive quality control coach with the Rams in 2012, Wilson has also worked for the Jets and Eagles coaching defensive backs.
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Philip Rivers showed he still has command of an NFL offense when he came out of retirement to play three games for the Colts in December.
Could he be in line to take over a team?
The Bills are at least interested in the possibility, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports Rivers is interviewing for the club’s head coaching vacancy on Friday.
Rivers, 44, has been the head coach at St. Michael Catholic High School in Alabama since retiring after the 2020 NFL season. He has led the team to two state semifinal appearances during his tenure.
Via Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, Josh Allen and Rivers have a strong relationship, which is part of what has Buffalo interested in Rivers as a candidate. The Bills are reportedly involving Allen in the search for Sean McDermott’s replacement, which makes sense given Allen’s status as one of the league’s top quarterbacks.
By interviewing Rivers now, the Bills could also consider the former quarterback as a potential offensive coordinator option if the club hires a head coach with a defensive background.
Rivers would be a particularly out-of-the-box hire. But after what he displayed in three games this season — albeit losses — the interest in him as a candidate is not as far-fetched as it might have been.
The Ravens’ move to hire Jesse Minter as their head coach left the Chargers without a defensive coordinator and they’re looking to Minter’s new team for a candidate to replace him on Jim Harbaugh’s staff.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that they have requested an interview with Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr.
Orr took over as Baltimore’s defensive coordinator when Mike Macdonald left to become the Seahawks’ head coach in 2024. He was previously their inside linebackers coach and he played linebacker for the Ravens for three seasons before retiring due to a spinal condition.
The Chargers have also requested an interview with Rams assistant head coach/defensive passing game coordinator Aubrey Pleasant.
Mike McDaniel is slated to be the Chargers’ offensive coordinator during the 2026 season, but the Chargers would have to look elsewhere if McDaniel lands a head coaching job.
That remains a possibility as Albert Breer of SI.com reports that McDaniel will interview with the Bills for their vacancy on Friday. The Bills have conducted three other interviews since firing Sean McDermott earlier this week.
McDaniel has also interviewed with the Falcons, Ravens, Browns, Raiders and Titans this month. He withdrew from consideration for the Browns job and all but the Raiders have filled their openings already.
If the Bills do the same by hiring someone other than McDaniel, he’ll likely be calling plays for Justin Herbert come the fall. If he winds up landing the Bills job, he’ll be doing the same for Josh Allen and facing his former Dolphins team twice a season.
The Chargers have requested Aubrey Pleasant to interview for their vacant defensive coordinator job, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports.
Pleasant is the assistant head coach/defensive passing game coordinator for the Rams. The Rams defense ranked 10th in points allowed and fifth in takeaways in 2025.
He has coached in the NFL for the past 13 seasons.
Pleasant has spent time with Washington, the Browns, Lions and Packers.
The Chargers are seeking to replace Jesse Minter, whom the Ravens hired as their head coach on Thursday.
Another day, another serious candidate for the Browns’ head-coaching job opts not to proceed with a second interview.
Earlier this week, former Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel canceled his second interview with the Browns. Now, via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter has canceled his second interview.
Here’s the full tweet from Cabot: “Jesse Minter is not interviewing for the Browns HC job today as scheduled, likely because he feels like he has other HC opportunities that are more certain.”
Of the jobs still open, Minter has been interviewed by the Cardinals, Raiders, and Ravens. Some believe he’ll become the next head coach of the Ravens.
The 42-year-old Minter has spent the past two years in L.A. He spent the two prior years as Michigan’s defensive coordinator. He has four years of NFL experience, from 2017 through 2020 with the Ravens, serving as defensive backs coach in his final season there.
Well, now we know why Mike McDaniel passed on a second interview for the Browns’ head-coaching job.
Via multiple reports, McDaniel will become the new offensive coordinator of the Chargers.
It gives McDaniel a chance to partner with coach Jim Harbaugh and quarterback Justin Herbert. And it gives McDaniel an opportunity to author the kind of performance that sets him up to potentially become an A-list candidate in 2027.
McDaniel coached the Dolphins for four seasons, with a record of 35-33 in the regular season and 0-2 in the playoffs.
He had drawn head-coaching interest, and it’s apparently possible he could still pivot to a bigger job. As noted by Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, no deal has been signed. He remains in play for the top jobs with the Ravens and Raiders.
For now, however, McDaniel is on track to partner with Jim Harbaugh. Both are quirky. Both are unique. And we can only hope that the Chargers will be the focal point of Hard Knocks in August.
Mike McDaniel won’t be the Browns’ next head coach, as McDaniel withdrew from the search on Tuesday. But the Browns are getting closer to hiring a replacement for Kevin Stefanski.
Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter will interview with the Browns on Thursday, Albert Breer of MMQB reports, with Jaguars offensive coordinator Grant Udinski interviewing on Friday.
The Browns talked with their own defensive coordinator, Jim Schwartz, on Monday and Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken on Tuesday.
Rams passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase also remains in the mix in Cleveland.
It looks like Mike McDaniel will not be the next head coach in Cleveland.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that McDaniel informed the team that he is withdrawing from their head coaching search. McDaniel interviewed with the team earlier this month and was slated to meet with them a second time on Wednesday.
McDaniel has also interviewed with the Raiders, Ravens, Falcons, and Titans since being fired by the Dolphins after Week 18. The Falcons and Titans have found their new head coaches, so McDaniel will not be landing either of those jobs.
There has also been offensive coordinator interest in McDaniel from teams like the Chargers and Buccaneers. Teams with new coaches could join them as they begin to fill out their coaching staffs, so there are still a lot of potential landing spots for McDaniel as the coaching carousel continues to turn.
The Browns had a second interview with their own defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken, Jaguars offensive coordinator Grant Udinski, and Rams pass game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase also remain in the mix in Cleveland.
The Raiders have kicked off their second round of head coaching interviews.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter has completed his second interview with the team. The Raiders have interviewed 14 candidates thus far, although two of them — Kevin Stefanski and Jeff Hafley — have been hired by other teams.
Hafley was on the list of second interviews with Las Vegas, but his agreement with Miami leaves Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero as the only other reported candidate set to meet with the team again.
The Ravens and Browns have also scheduled second interviews with Minter, so the Chargers may be looking for a new defensive coordinator in the near future.
