Within a season, GM Joe Hortiz changed Chargers’ DNA: ‘Everybody’s just, like, fighters’
Jim Harbaugh just got done high-fiving all of his players. He saved a special greeting for Joe Hortiz.
In the immediate aftermath of the Chargers clinching their first playoff berth since 2022, the coach wrapped the general manager in a tight, two-armed hug in the New England Patriots locker room.
“Love you!” Harbaugh shouted at Hortiz with both hands on Hortiz’s shoulders. They embraced again.
Harbaugh’s influence has been the headline as the Chargers have tried to ditch their reputation of mediocrity. The eccentric coach would like his players get the credit for changing the organization’s culture.
Then there’s Hortiz, the man who worked behind the scenes to hand-pick the players behind the team’s first 11-win season since 2018.
“He takes no deep, long bows, but he should,” Harbaugh said. “He should take a very deep, long bow for just how good he is and what he’s been able to do with this team.”
No matter how many times the Chargers shuffled their secondary with rookies, practice squad call-ups and mid-season signings, Derwin James Jr. made it work.
The Chargers — who face No. 4 seed Houston in an AFC wild-card game Saturday at 1:30 p.m. PST — completed the franchise’s best single-season turnaround since 2004, going from five wins last season to 11 in the first year of the Harbaugh era. Hortiz, who earned the nickname “Chef Hortiz” for the way he cooks up moves, navigated difficult salary constraints to turn over the roster.
He kept foundational players and restructured contracts for outside linebackers Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa. He added veterans who each had something to prove. He drafted young players who didn’t just have future potential but brought immediate impact.
Across all the groups, the front office ensured everyone shared a common quality.
“Everybody’s just, like, fighters,” safety Tony Jefferson said. “We strain to the last moment, the last play.”
Jefferson saw Hortiz’s front-office influence up close last season. The 32-year-old was working as a scouting assistant for the Baltimore Ravens, with whom Hortiz spent the previous 26 seasons working from personnel assistant up to director of player personnel.
The Ravens have had two general managers in their nearly 30-year existence, with Ozzie Newsome beginning in 1996 and passing the torch to Eric DeCosta in 2019. Hortiz credits both for preparing him for his first general manager role.
Working for an organization that has set the standard for consistency with 15 seasons at .500 or better in the last 17 seasons, Jefferson routinely heard DeCosta preach the importance of never getting too high or too low. The 10-year professional now sees Hortiz apply the lesson every day as he scours the league to find any addition who could improve the roster by any fraction.
“He wants guys not to get comfortable at all,” cornerback Kristian Fulton said. “You see that just with the roster moves that they make year round.”
Days before the Chargers’ playoff opener, the team added former All-Pro running back Ezekiel Elliott to the practice squad. Quarterback Justin Herbert marveled at the move. He didn’t even realize teams could do that.
“I’m thankful for those guys,” Herbert said.
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert has a good chance to earn his first NFL playoff win. The Rams must repeat an upset of Vikings to move to next round.
Hortiz, with assistant general manager Chad Alexander and senior director of pro personnel Louis Clark, has kept the roster in constant churn. Hours after setting the initial 53-man roster, the Chargers traded for backup quarterback Taylor Heinicke.
That same week, they claimed running back Hassan Haskins off waivers and traded for defensive back Elijah Molden. All three have played meaningful snaps for the Chargrs this season with Molden emerging as a starter in a breakout season before fracturing a fibula in Week 17.
Hortiz works with Harbaugh on any potential moves, popping his head into Harbaugh’s office to request that the coach check out a player’s film or weigh in on an idea already ruminating within the front office. Hortiz has the final call, and Harbaugh hasn’t had any reason to object.
“It should be a TED Talk, his leadership style,” Harbaugh said on the acronym for technology, entertainment and design. “But that’s what it is: pulls the best out of everybody and makes you want to give your best.”
Having already worked with Harbaugh’s older brother, John Harbaugh, in Baltimore. Hortiz called Jim “a brother.”
For the first time in two weeks, the Chargers had both of their leading rushers, J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards, on the practice field.
They shared a DNA of success. Harbaugh engineered turnarounds at all of his previous head coaching spots — from the University of San Diego to Stanford, the San Francisco 49ers and, most recently, Michigan.
The connection between two of the team’s top decision makers built a steady foundation for potential free agents looking for opportunities this offseason.
“Joe Hortiz and coach Harbaugh coming from where they came from,” said Fulton, who signed as a free agent from the Tennessee Titans. “I won my whole life, and I wanted to surround myself around winners.”
A former national champion at Louisiana State, Fulton is having the best-rated season of his career, according to Pro Football Focus. After balky hamstrings saddled him with an injury-prone label, Fulton has set career highs for tackles (51) and games played (15).
Fulton is one of six free agents currently on the Chargers active roster who signed one-year deals to help turn the team’s fortunes quickly. Hortiz aced his first draft with starting right tackle Joe Alt, second-round gem Ladd McConkey and fifth-round defensive backs Cam Hart and Tarheeb Still.
Everything you need to know about the Chargers facing the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium in the AFC wild-card playoffs, including start time, TV channel and betting odds.
The new players combined with returning players who have taken major steps forward.
Daiyan Henley called himself a “leftover” after the former third-round draft pick was relegated to the bench under the previous coaches. The second-year linebacker now leads the Chargers with 142 tackles and is the only player in the league to have at least 120 tackles and more than seven passes broken up this season.
With nearly half of its starting lineup in its first season with the team, Hortiz ensured the new era of the Chargers extends to almost all levels. Most importantly on the field.
“Let’s get rid of that ‘Chargering’ thing,” Henley said. “Let’s make it a different team name, because this team right here is fighting to be better. The culture being built is to propel us into the future.”
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