Kyle Hamilton: Jesse Minter has let us know the defensive standard hasn't been met
Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton told reporters on Wednesday that he was shocked to learn of John Harbaugh's firing in January, but the start of the team's offseason program under new head coach Jesse Minter has him "excited for a new era" in Baltimore. Hamilton is particularly excited about the impact that Minter and new defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver can have on the team's defense. The team fell to 18th in points allowed while going 8-9 last season and Hamilton said there's been clear messaging from the new staff that the work on that side of the ball has been unacceptable.
"I don’t think we’re reinventing the wheel or anything," Hamilton said. "We just got to get back to or just re-establish dominance, especially defense. Offense, they got their own thing going on and I’m sure they’ll be alright.
I think defensively it’s been pretty disappointing, just some results that we’ve had. We’ve had some good seasons, but we’ve also had some bad seasons and those are inexcusable. Especially here.
I think confronting that, him along with coach Weaver, they’ve both done a great job so far laying out what’s been in the past and where we want to go in the future. The standard has not been met and upheld and we need to kind of fix that. " Minter coached under Harbaugh earlier in his career and the expectation in Baltimore is that he'll be able to get the team moving in the right direction quickly.
The defense will have a lot to do with his chances of success and Hamilton's early review is an encouraging one for the unit's mindset.