EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Chris O'Leary is back on familiar ground with the Los Angeles Chargers, giving him a built-in level of comfort as he takes over as defensive coordinator.
He's replacing his mentor Jesse Minter, who left to become head coach of the Baltimore Ravens last month.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” O'Leary said Tuesday.
He was safeties coach under Jim Harbaugh in 2024, Harbaugh's first in charge of the Bolts. O'Leary left last year to work as defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Western Michigan, where the Broncos went 10-4 with one of the stingiest defenses in the country.
But O'Leary never forgot the Chargers. He'd watch their games, then install Broncos terminology and have his players watch to see how NFL players executed schemes. He'd also break down games and send his takes to Minter.
O'Leary said he wasn't looking to leave Kalamazoo, let alone get back in the NFL. But when Minter left for Baltimore, he couldn't resist applying to the Chargers.
Minter's advice?
“Be myself. We’ve done things at a really high level but go be you and be great,” O'Leary recalled.
He first met Minter at Indiana State in O'Leary's hometown of Terre Haute. O'Leary was a receiver and Jesse Minter and his father Rick Minter were assistant coaches. Rick Minter is currently a senior analyst with the Bolts.
“They knew I'd be a coach when I'd talk back to them on scout team, talking trash,” O'Leary said. “That’s kind of where they saw the competitive fire. I knew they were great defensive coaches. I knew they had the competitive insanity that I have.”
O’Leary got his first job as a graduate assistant at Georgia State in 2015 when Jesse Minter was the school’s defensive coordinator.
“I didn’t know anything about the defensive line. I walked in and every day was a struggle,” O'Leary said. “I learned competitiveness, passion, energy, violence within the white lines. Those things are what I love in football. That’s where my love of defense grew.”
O’Leary also spent six seasons at Notre Dame before his first stint with the Chargers.
In 2024, O'Leary worked closely with Derwin James and Elijah Molden. James was a second-team All-Pro and O'Leary calls him “one of my favorite players I’ve ever worked with and coached because of how contagious his energy is and how he great he wants to be.”
With one year of experience calling plays, O'Leary believes he's the right person to help the Chargers reach their ultimate goal of winning a Super Bowl.
“Being able to be creative, being able to put guys in different positions and start to learn how to piece the personnel together, I have a lot of confidence,” he said. “I feel I have a mastery of those areas just through my relationship with Coach Minter, through being in this building.”
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