COSTA MESA — The first thing to know about Joe Hortiz, the Chargers’ new general manager, is that he’s a Philadelphia guy, a Delaware guy, a Baltimore guy. He has the no-nonsense sensibilities of the old industrial Northeast, with all the stereotypical passion and stubbornness that implies.
The second thing to know about him is that he’s a family guy, a football guy, a team guy. He started his career at the absolute bottom of the NFL’s food chain, rising through the ranks for 26 years, from personnel assistant to regional scout, to national scout, to director of player personnel.
So, why leave the Baltimore Ravens for the Chargers? Why leave behind all he had accomplished over 26 years with the Ravens for a new job with the Chargers? Why leave all he knew and all the comforts of one coast for the other? Was it a leap of faith or was there something more to it?
Hortiz, 48, said during his introductory press conference at the Chargers’ training facility on Tuesday that he had a different feeling when he completed the first of his two interviews with team executives last month. He said he later told his wife, Jennifer, “Baby, this is it. This is the fit. I want this job.”
“In that Zoom call, you hear about the longevity of the people in this organization and you hear about the love they have for this organization and the commitment they have to winning,” Hortiz said. “I made a commitment to building a consistent winner. You hear that (on the Zoom call), and then when I came here (for an in-person interview) you feel it, and you know it’s true.
“You know they’re committed to winning. It makes it easy to go from one great organization to another great organization. I believe it. There’s talent on the field. They know how to draft players here. They’ve drafted some really great players. We’ve played them. We’ve lost to them in playoff games. We’ve beaten them in tough, hard-fought games. Our goal is to just build it bigger and…
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