Mike Minter Michael Christopher Minter ( born January 15 , 1974 in Cleveland , Ohio ) is an American football coach , retired safety , and businessman . Minter is currently the head coach of the Campbell Fighting Camels and played from 1997 to 2006 with the Carolina Panthers . High school and college . Minter attended Lawton High School in Lawton , Oklahoma where he started as running back and free 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 in basketball . Minter then attended the University of Nebraska , where he was a member of both national championship teams of 1994 and 1995 . He redshirt ed as a true 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 left ACL , which took him out for the rest of the season . He played a key role as the starting strong 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 to linebacker 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 . NFL career . Minter was selected 56th overall by the Carolina Panthers in the second round of the 1997 NFL Draft . He became the starter in the team ' s sixth game of his rookie 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 a staph infection that developed as a complication of surgery on his left knee . Since that season , Minter has 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 the New England Patriots in 2003 , Minter ranked second on defense and equaled a career high of 18 tackles . Despite breaking his left foot in the third quarter , he stayed in the rest of the game . In his 9 years in the NFL , all with the Panthers , Minter made 790 tackles , 9 . 5 sacks , 15 forced fumbles , 8 fumble recoveries , 15 interceptions ( with 371 yards on the returns , and 4 defensive touchdowns . ) On March 27 , 2007 the NFL 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 in The 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 . After the NFL . Minter declared in 2009 that he was considering a run for the United States House of Representatives in 2010 as a Republican against incumbent Larry Kissell ; however , he decided against running . Minter had shown interest in being the first head coach of the Charlotte 49ers football team , which is slated to begin play in 2013 . The position , however , went to Brad Lambert , who previously served as an assistant coach at Oklahoma , Marshall , and Georgia . After spending one season as an assistant coach at Johnson C . Smith University in 2011 , Minter was hired to serve as the special teams coach at Liberty University in January 2012 . On November 26th , 2012 Minter became the Head Football Coach at Campbell University in Buies Creek , NC . Minter also coached three seasons at local private school First Assembly Christian where he won two state championships out of his three years .