Chargers News: Bolts New GM Joe Hortiz Says "Our Goal is to Win a Championship Every Year"
The new Chargers regime is ready to turn around the fortunes of the franchise.
The Los Angeles Chargers officially introduced Joe Hortiz as their new general manager on Tuesday, at his introductory press conference.
It didn't take long before Hortiz set the tone for the Chargers going forward, laying down their winning expectations.
"Our goal is to build a winner every year," Hortiz said. "We want to compete to win a championship every year, OK? That's going to be starting now. That's not going to be, 'Let's gut it and start over.' Those are the decisions. What balance of players give us the best opportunity to go out there and compete this year? I know who we're trying to be, we know who we're trying to be, and we're gunning, we're going that direction. We're not mailing in a season, no way. We're going to try to win this year."
This winning is expected to begin this season, which would be incredible for a Chargers team that finished last in the AFC West with a 5-12 record. But how possible is such a quick turnaround?
Surprisingly, not that far out of reach for this staff. Jim Harbaugh has a track record of turning teams around quickly, which he did with the San Francisco 49ers back in 2011. They'll need Hortiz and staff to bring in quality pieces, but Hortiz's track record proves he's more than capable.
Hortiz of course has plenty of experience building a winner from over two decades with the Baltimore Ravens. During this span, the Ravens won two Super Bowls, seven AFC North division titles, and made the playoffs 15 times.
With a quarterback as talented as Justin Herbert and several other talented pieces, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Chargers start winning, especially if they stay healthy.
Either way, this mindset and approach is truly refreshing for an organization that has never won a Super Bowl and hasn't won an AFC West title since 2009.
