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 Minter in 2006 | |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Defensive analyst |
| Team | Western Michigan |
| Conference | MAC |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | (1974-01-15)January 15, 1974 (age 51) Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1994–1996 | Nebraska |
| 1997–2006 | Carolina Panthers |
| Position | Safety |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2008–2010 | First Assembly Christian |
| 2011 | Johnson C. Smith (AHC/ST) |
| 2012 | Liberty (ST) |
| 2013–2023 | Campbell |
| 2024–present | Western Michigan (DA) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 49–66 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Awards | |
Michael Christopher Minter (born January 15, 1974) is an Americancollege football coach and former player. He is a defensive analyst forWestern Michigan University, a position he has held since 2024. He is a former head football coach atCampbell University, a position he held for eleven seasons.[1] Minter played professionally as asafety in theNational Football League (NFL) for ten seasons, from 1997 to 2006, with theCarolina Panthers. He playedcollege football for theNebraska Cornhuskers and was selected by the Panthers in the second round of the1997 NFL draft.
Minter attendedLawton High School inLawton, Oklahoma where he started asrunning back andfree safety. As a running back, he led the state with 1,589 yards rushing and 21 touchdowns on 187 carries as a senior. Minter also averaged 21 points per game inbasketball. Minter then attended theUniversity of Nebraska–Lincoln, where he was a member of both national championship teams of 1994 and 1995. Heredshirted as atrue freshman, and played backup safety his freshman year despite recording 21 tackles, two forced fumbles, and one sack.Sophomore year, Minter started the first two games of the season at free safety before tearing his leftACL, which took him out for the rest of the season. He played a key role as the startingstrong safety for the 1995 national championship winning team, the first to win consensus back-to-back national championships in 40 years. He recorded 53 tackles, two interceptions, and deflected six passes. This earned him All-Big Eight second-team recognition. In his senior season, Minter started and played the first ten games at safety before moving tolinebacker for the final two. He amassed 51 tackles, five interceptions, six deflected passes, and five quarterback rushes, which earned him All-Big 12 first-team honors.
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft10+1⁄8 in (1.78 m) | 188 lb (85 kg) | 31+3⁄8 in (0.80 m) | 9 in (0.23 m) | 4.50 s | 1.63 s | 2.66 s | 4.00 s | 7.23 s | 36.0 in (0.91 m) | 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m) | 11 reps |
Minter was selected 56th overall by the Carolina Panthers in the second round of the1997 NFL draft.[2] He became the starter in the team's sixth game of hisrookie season, and remained there until his retirement. In his rookie year he posted 11 starts and finished second among defensive backs with 83 tackles, and also recorded 3.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries, two forced fumbles, 10 passes defensed and four quarterback hurries. In 1998, Minter missed ten games because of astaph infection that developed as a complication of surgery on his left knee. Following that season, Minter started every game of each year, except in 2001, when he missed the first two games because of an injury. In Carolina's appearance in the Super Bowl against theNew England Patriots in 2003, Minter ranked second on defense and equaled a career-high of 18 tackles. Despite breaking his leftfoot in the third quarter, he stayed in the rest of the game.
In his 10 years in the NFL, all with the Panthers, Minter made 790 tackles, 9.5 sacks, 15 forced fumbles, 8 fumble recoveries, 15 interceptions, a franchise-record 421 return yards, and 4 defensive touchdowns, including a franchise-record-tying 2 in 2003.
On March 27, 2007, theNFL Network reported that the 2007 season would be Minter's last. ESPN.com reported that Minter retired after 10 seasons.
On August 7, 2007, Minter announced his retirement, effective immediately (as reported inThe Charlotte Observer). His decision to retire early was attributed to continuing problems with his knees. Minter retired with team records for game starts (141) and consecutive starts (94), as well as for fumble recoveries and interceptions resulting in touchdowns.
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | PD | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 1997 | CAR | 16 | 11 | 69 | 53 | 16 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1998 | CAR | 6 | 4 | 26 | 19 | 7 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1999 | CAR | 16 | 16 | 95 | 74 | 21 | 1.0 | 11 | 3 | 69 | 23.0 | 44 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 30 | 0 |
| 2000 | CAR | 16 | 16 | 125 | 91 | 34 | 2.0 | 7 | 2 | 38 | 19.0 | 30 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2001 | CAR | 14 | 14 | 79 | 65 | 14 | 0.0 | 10 | 2 | 32 | 16.0 | 30 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2002 | CAR | 16 | 16 | 85 | 66 | 19 | 1.0 | 9 | 4 | 125 | 31.3 | 62 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2003 | CAR | 16 | 16 | 97 | 77 | 20 | 0.0 | 8 | 3 | 100 | 33.3 | 35 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2004 | CAR | 16 | 16 | 83 | 63 | 20 | 2.0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2005 | CAR | 16 | 16 | 63 | 41 | 22 | 1.5 | 9 | 1 | 47 | 47.0 | 47 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2006 | CAR | 16 | 16 | 83 | 59 | 24 | 0.0 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 148 | 141 | 805 | 608 | 197 | 11.0 | 69 | 17 | 421 | 24.76 | 62 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 30 | 0 | |
Minter declared in 2009 that he was considering a run for theUnited States House of Representatives in 2010 as a Republican against incumbentLarry Kissell;[3] however, he decided against running.[4]
Minter had shown interest in being the first head coach of theCharlotte 49ers football team, which began play in 2013. The position, however, went toBrad Lambert, who previously served as an assistant coach atOklahoma,Marshall, andGeorgia. After spending one season as an assistant coach atJohnson C. Smith University in 2011, Minter was hired to serve as the special teams coach atLiberty University in January 2012.[5] On November 26, 2012, Minter became the head football coach atCampbell University inBuies Creek, North Carolina.[6]
Minter also coached three seasons atFirst Assembly Christian School inConcord, North Carolina, where he won two state championships.
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Campbell Fighting Camels(Pioneer Football League)(2013–2017) | |||||||||
| 2013 | Campbell | 3–9 | 2–6 | 8th | |||||
| 2014 | Campbell | 5–7 | 4–4 | T–5th | |||||
| 2015 | Campbell | 5–6 | 3–5 | 7th | |||||
| 2016 | Campbell | 5–5 | 3–4 | 6th | |||||
| 2017 | Campbell | 6–5 | 5–3 | T–3rd | |||||
| Campbell Fighting Camels(Big South Conference)(2018–2019) | |||||||||
| 2018 | Campbell | 6–5 | 1–4 | 5th | |||||
| 2019 | Campbell | 6–5 | 3–3 | 4th | |||||
| Campbell Fighting Camels(NCAA Division I FCS independent)(2020) | |||||||||
| 2020–21 | Campbell | 0–4[a] | |||||||
| Campbell Fighting Camels(Big South Conference)(2021–2022) | |||||||||
| 2021 | Campbell | 3–8 | 2–5 | T–8th | |||||
| 2022 | Campbell | 5–6 | 2–3 | T–3rd | |||||
| Campbell Fighting Camels(Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference)(2023) | |||||||||
| 2023 | Campbell | 5–6 | 4–4 | T–6th | |||||
| Campbell: | 49–66 | 29–41 | |||||||
| Total: | 49–66 | ||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
