Thanks to Tom Brady, Raiders Reportedly Were in the Mix for Jesse Minter

The Ravens and Tom Brady had memorable battles during his playing days, and the organization and the legendary quarterback apparently engaged in competition again last week.

This time, the battle was over who would land Jesse Minter as head coach, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.

Breer said Brady made a pitch to lure Minter to the Las Vegas Raiders before he was hired by the Ravens. Brady is a minority owner of the Raiders and has influence in personnel decisions.

"Minter, who was then the Chargers' defensive coordinator, interviewed on Tuesday with the Raiders in the exclusive Indian Creek neighborhood of Miami, where Las Vegas minority owner Tom Brady resides," Breer wrote. "Minter hit it off quickly with the future Hall of Famer and Raiders GM John Spytek. Both are Michigan football alumni and, as such, were familiar with Minter's work under Jim Harbaugh over the past four years (the first two in Ann Arbor, then in Los Angeles).

"Vegas wasn't quite ready to pull the trigger, but Brady's gravitational pull — a pull that Ben Johnson felt last year before taking the Bears' job — was there as Minter flew to Baltimore on Tuesday night. The Raiders could see him as their head coach. He knew it."

So did the Ravens when they had their second interview with Minter on Wednesday.

"Afterward, he didn't know he was getting the Baltimore job, but had a feeling either the Ravens or Raiders were the place for him," Breer wrote. "So he called the Browns, canceled an interview scheduled for Thursday (he was scheduled to visit the Cardinals on Friday), and decided to stay the night in Baltimore.

"The Ravens interviewed Bills OC Joe Brady (who, interestingly enough, could very well become Minter's OC in Baltimore) on Thursday morning, knowing of the Raiders' interest in Minter. And after sitting down with Brady, whom they'd liked, they moved on Minter."

Breer said the Ravens "hit a home run" by hiring Minter as the fourth head coach in franchise history.

"And as I see it, they knocked it out of the park by acting decisively when they needed to — with even the hint that they could lose Jesse Minter," Breer wrote.

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