Anthony Weaver Says It 'Means More' to Be Ravens' Defensive Coordinator
Anthony Weaver confirmed reports that he will be hired as the Ravens' new defensive coordinator under Head Coach Jesse Minter and said that he is "ecstatic" about returning to Baltimore.
"It's home. It'll always be home for me," Weaver told WNYT in New York. "Just on cloud nine right now."
Weaver was drafted by the Ravens in the second round in 2002 and played defensive end for four seasons in Baltimore. He joined John Harbaugh's staff in 2021 and spent three seasons with the Ravens as defensive line coach, run game coordinator, and assistant head coach.
"If there's a coordinator job you want in the National Football League, it's to be the coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens," Weaver said. "It means a little bit more there in my eyes. So just to have that title now and to be blessed to have that opportunity with Coach Minter, [General Manager] Eric DeCosta, [Executive Vice President] Ozzie [Newsome], I just feel incredibly grateful and incredibly blessed right now."
Weaver, 45, has experience as a defensive coordinator with the Houston Texans (2020) and Miami Dolphins (2024-2025). He reportedly was a finalist for multiple head coach jobs this cycle and had two interviews with the Ravens.
Minter will be the defensive play-caller, but Weaver's experience, leadership, and relationship with a number of the Ravens' defensive players make him a valuable asset.
Pundits Praise Weaver's Hiring: 'A Coup for Ravens'
Weaver's hiring was praised by Ravens media members. Here are some samples:
The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec: "Getting Weaver, who team officials have long admired for his leadership skills and work with defensive linemen, is a coup for the Ravens. He's been a popular head-coaching candidate in the past two cycles and interviewed for at least five vacancies this offseason, getting a second interview from multiple teams."
The Baltimore Sun’s Bennett Conlin: "The move makes a ton of sense. Weaver is a longtime defensive assistant with a deep understanding of Baltimore's organization, and he's likely going to be a head coach one day in the near future. He'll immediately bring stability and experience to what's looking like a star-studded defensive coaching staff. Minter didn't need someone to call plays, but Weaver has the chops to do so if Minter ever wants to delegate that task. Weaver is an ideal hire to help design game plans and develop players throughout the course of a season. After the Ravens struggled to rush the passer in 2025, they're bringing in a coordinator with playing and coaching experience along Baltimore's defensive front. The move checks a bunch of boxes as Minter looks to fix a talented but inconsistent defense in 2026."
The Baltimore Sun’s Josh Tolentino: "This is a clear floor-raising hire. Weaver brings deep familiarity with the organization and he will play a key role in helping a defense that needs straightening after the unit faltered in key moments over the past two seasons under former defensive play-caller Zach Orr."
Russell Street Report’s Rob Shields: "The perfect hire. The DC won't be calling plays for the Ravens but you needed someone the players like and someone who knows this defense. Weaver worked under Mike MacDonald and Minter runs the same defense. Very smart guy. … As an added bonus, if he ends up leaving for a head coaching job, which almost happened for him this offseason, the Ravens will get compensatory picks in return. Gotta love every aspect of this hire."
Russell Street Report’s Chris Schisler: "This is a strong hire. … The Ravens are essentially building a fellowship of great defensive coaches. An up-and-coming defensive coordinator is the head coach. A familiar hire becomes the defensive coordinator. It all points to returning the strength to Ravens defense."
Baltimore Beatdown’s Frank Platko: "Anthony Weaver is a home-run hire for defensive coordinator. Having both played and coached for the Ravens in prior years, Weaver is a perfect organizational fit."
Baltimore Beatdown’s Stephen Bopst: "I'm a big fan of this move. By all accounts, Anthony Weaver is a strong leader whom players have expressed admiration and support for in the past. … Weaver's experience working with the front seven also pairs well with Minter's coaching experience with the secondary. Minter has put together an extremely strong staff to this point."
Chicago Tight End Says New Ravens Offensive Coordinator Declan Doyle Is 'Big' Loss for Bears
The Bears were an excellent team in the second half of games this season, and Chicago tight end Cole Kmet said halftime adjustments by then-Offensive Coordinator Declan Doyle, the new Ravens' OC, were key.
"I'm sure [with] Ben [Johnson] as the head coach, there's a lot of things you have to handle at halftime. Declan's the one addressing the offense at halftime, going over the openers that are going to be coming up in the second half and telling us what we need to do, and what they're seeing, and how we can make adjustments," Kmet told 104.3 The Score in Chicago.
Kmet said Declan's departure is a "big loss" for the Bears.
"Even though Declan didn't call the plays for us, the amount of work that he did on the offensive side of the football was immense, and you could see that day to day in practice," Kmet said. "Declan was very hands on with all of us and that is a big role.
"I somewhat understand when people on the outside say, 'Oh, if you're not calling plays, really what are you doing?' These guys do a lot of stuff in terms of prepping for the game plan and getting us ready to go for practice throughout the week that really shows up big time on Sunday."
Sports Illustrated Gives Ravens' Hiring of Minter an A+
With all 10 head coaching vacancies filled, Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr and Fox Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano graded and ranked the hires.
Orr put the Ravens' hiring of Minter at No. 1 with an A+ grade.
"By all accounts, Jesse Minter was the crown jewel of this year's class and the only candidate to have been requested by every single team with an opening," Orr wrote. "Since coming to the NFL in 2024 as Jim Harbaugh's defensive coordinator, Minter's defenses have posted the sixth-best opponent EPA per play, despite having one of the worst (and most injury prone) rosters of any team in the top 10.
"It's not enough to be a top play-caller anymore; it's about possessing the ability to download a roster, immediately build a team based on its strengths and craft a modern, top-down mentality that will get the team off and running. Baltimore clearly had eyes on Minter when the team decided to part ways with John Harbaugh and landed a coach who smashed a home run with his offensive coordinator hire, the Bears' Declan Doyle, who has been on the fast track for years and spent an instrumental season under Ben Johnson in Chicago."
Vacchiano gave the Ravens and Minter a B+ grade and No. 3 ranking behind Harbaugh to the Giants and Kevin Stefanski to the Falcons.
"Though it requires a bit of speculation, he deserves to be ranked near the top, especially since he probably inherits the best of the 10 openings," Vacchiano wrote. "On a loaded roster with Lamar Jackson at quarterback, he's got the best shot of winning right away.
"Can he? Well, his pedigree as an assistant is strong. He's an apple off the Harbaugh tree, having worked with both John in Baltimore and Jim in Michigan and with the Los Angeles Chargers. He built college football's best defense when Michigan won the national championship in 2023, and he turned a bad Chargers defense into a top-10 unit over the past two seasons. So he can coach. And many NFL executives think he's ready for the big chair."
Mike Macdonald Credits John Harbaugh for Shaping Him Into a Head Coach
As Macdonald and his Seattle Seahawks prepare for the Super Bowl, he credited John Harbaugh for shaping him into a head coach.
"I don't think it's possible to overstate his influence on me," Macdonald said. "I love John Harbaugh. He's one of my biggest mentors. He was willing to take chances on me when other people weren't and invested in me throughout my career. He had a vision for me and my career that I probably didn't have for myself. All the principles that are part of his program, that he's about as a person, resonated with me. Those are a lot of the foundational principles that we brought to Seattle. He's also a great friend, got a great family. I can't say how much I love him."
Macdonald's first job in the NFL was as a coaching intern with the Ravens in 2014. He was a defensive assistant coach under Harbaugh from 2015-2020, left to become Michigan's defensive coordinator for a year, and then returned to Baltimore as defensive coordinator for two seasons before becoming Seattle's head coach in 2024.
Harbaugh also shaped Minter, whose introduction to the NFL was as a defensive assistant under him from 2017-2020.
