Why Joe Hortiz, Jim Harbaugh feel Chargers are ahead of schedule

Chris Roling | Jan 19, 2025

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Los Angeles Chargers

The Los Angeles Chargers might be close to losing a key part of Joe Hortiz’s front office ahead of Jim Harbaugh’s second year as head coach, sure.

But Hortiz feels ahead of schedule as the Chargers look toward free agency.

Hortiz, after all, was just getting to know the people and organization as a new arrival at this time last year. Now, things feel accelerated – in a good way.

"From a GM perspective, personnel perspective, you feel like you're ahead right now. I do personally," Hortiz said this week. "Go back to last year, I was still in Baltimore at this time. You definitely feel ahead and ready to hit the ground running. We'll get coaches assignments out next week and let them start attack evaluations and keep rolling through it."

It must be an encouraging idea for Chargers fans. After the late arrival last year, Hortiz made a huge number of key moves that resulted in a “rebuild” year turning into a playoff appearance. That included moving on from key names like Keenan Allen to fix the cap space, signing underrated, critical free agents like Poona Ford and drafting Ladd McConkey (after an aggressive trade up) and unearthing gems like fifth-round cornerbacks Cam Hart and Tarheeb Still.

What might Hortiz do now that he feels ahead of schedule? Hard to say, but rest assured Harbaugh feels the same way.

Fittingly, the Chargers have seemed ahead of schedule ever since he arrived.