Chargers are reportedly planning to appoint Joe Hortiz of the Ravens as general manager.
According to numerous reports on Monday, Joe Hortiz, the director of player personnel for the Baltimore Ravens, is anticipated to join the Chargers as their new general manager. If that’s the case, Hortiz would work for Jim Harbaugh in Los Angeles instead of John Harbaugh in Baltimore.
ESPN and the NFL Network reported, citing anonymous sources, that the last aspects of Hortiz’s contract had not yet been worked out.
Last Wednesday, the Chargers hired Jim Harbaugh as their head coach to succeed Brandon Staley, who was sacked on December 15 along with general manager Tom Telesco, following a 63-21 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. Jim’s elder brother, John Harbaugh, had been the Ravens’ coach for the previous 16 years.
48-year-old Hortiz joined the Ravens as
began as a scout in 1998 and worked their way up to the position of director of player personnel in 2019. After winning the Super Bowl in 2012, Baltimore made it to the AFC championship game in 2023 but was defeated by the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.
After Telesco joined the Chargers as general manager in 2013, the team only made it to the playoffs three times in his career. During the 2022 season, for example, they blew a 27-0 lead in the second quarter and lost their AFC wild-card game to the Jacksonville Jaguars 31-30, resulting in a historic collapse.
Despite the playoff disaster, Telesco and Staley were able to retain their positions.
But they were let go less than a day after the Chargers humiliatingly lost to the Raiders last month on Prime Video, the nationwide streaming service that has taken over “Thursday Night Football” broadcasts since the 2022 season, giving up the most points in franchise history.
After a protracted interview and hiring process, the Chargers selected Harbaugh ahead of Hortiz, which
may have been strange at first, but it made sense since the club was going after the coach of the University of Michigan, who had guided the Wolverines to the national title earlier this month.
Given his lengthy history with John Harbaugh from the Ravens, Hortiz appeared to be a perfect choice as general manager of the Chargers. After nine interviews since the process started on January 10, Hortiz and assistant general manager of the New York Giants Brandon Brown emerged as the front-runners for the position.
For the position of general manager, the Chargers announced on Friday that they had finished their second interview with Joe Hortiz, director of player personnel for the Baltimore Ravens. So far, only two candidates have had second interviews: Hortiz and Brandon Brown, the deputy general manager of the New York Giants.
Hortiz began his career with the Ravens in 1998 as a scout and worked his way up to the current position in 2019. His brother, new Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh, is the coach of the Ravens, and the two have collaborated closely. He had an in-person meeting for his second interview, according to the Chargers.
Beyond Hortiz and Brown, the Chargers have also spoken with Chicago Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham, Buffalo Bills director of player personnel Terrance Gray, New Orleans Saints associate general manager, and interim general manager JoJo Wooden.
Bears co-player personnel director Jeff Ireland, Ed Dodds, the deputy general manager of the Indianapolis Colts, and NFL administrator Dawn Aponte.
The Chargers are in search of a replacement for Tom Telesco, who was let go on December 15, one day following the team’s 63-21 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, along with head coach Brandon Staley. For the last three games of the season, Wooden, a veteran director of player personnel for the Chargers, filled in as their acting general manager.
Jim Harbaugh was signed to a five-year contract on Wednesday to take Staley’s place.