Attacking The Edge

One of the defining features of Jesse Minter's defense is the use of the Ni in his pressure plans. The concept extends to newly appointed Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald as well.

The Michigan defense dominated the entire year en route to an undefeated National Championship. For context, Georgia’s defense from ’22 only scored .03 points higher in DFEI than the Wolverines (no one comes close to the ’21 UGA defense’s number of 2.13). Defensive Coordinator Jesse Minter will attempt to translate that success at the NFL level as he joins Jim Harbaugh in LA with the Chargers.

Since 2020, the Fangio system has intrigued the NFL, as its concepts have dissipated throughout the league. Cover 6 (QQH/HQQ) usage has risen almost three percentage points since ’19, along with Quarters. Using a two-high Safety shell and post-snap coverage ratios have all been part of the diaspora of the Fangio philosophy.

The Fangio Tree's roots keep growing - Part 1

Minter doesn’t come from that tree, though. Instead, he stems from the ‘new’ Ravens system that newly appointed Seattle Seahawks Head Coach Mike Macdonald has retooled. In ’21, with now UMass Head Coach Don Brown being let go by Harbaugh in ’20, he hired the young coach off of his brother’s staff (John) to come and fix the Michigan defense that had fallen to 118th in DFEI during the Covid-shortened season.

Macdonald quickly turned around the Wolverine defense, finishing 14th in DFEI. One of the main changes within Macdonald’s philosophy from his counterpart Wink Martindale (ironically now Michigan’s DC) was to move away from the blitz-centric style that was quickly losing favor in modern football. Like Don Brown, Martindale favored a high blitz rate with Cover 1 behind it.

Macdonald developed a system that was more multiple and preferred zone coverages. To be more diverse in the backend, the system used less ‘match’ coverage and more vision drops where defenders worked to a designated spot but kept their eyes on the QB’s intentions. Feeling his defense slipping in ’21, John Harbaugh, Head Coach of the Ravens, relieved Martindale as his DC and quickly returned Macdonald to Baltimore.

Now without a DC, Jim turned to Jesse Minter, who had worked with the Ravens and was currently the Vanderbilt DC. ’22 saw the Michigan defense return to the top-10 in DFEI (BCFToys), with the culminating finale of being the #1 defense (by far) in the country and finishing with an undefeated National Championship this past year. For Macdonald, the Ravens finished eighth in DVOA in ’22 and first this past season (FTN).

The Art of X Show: 2023 NFL Defensive Review

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