• There is this, at least: Those of us who vote for baseball’s Hall of Fame are encouraged to publish our ballots and explain (and defend, in many cases) our work. It’s not mandatory – though it should be – but that openness is an important part of the process and part of why there is so much discussion and attention and caring when the vote is announced every January.

In the case of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, conversely, the process is so opaque to be confounding. Thus, Thursday night’s announcement of Canton’s Class of 2024 – and the omission of former Chargers tight end Antonio Gates, a first-time candidate and finalist – leaves questions that can’t possibly be answered adequately, lest someone break the veil of secrecy. …

• Gates, a former Kent State basketball player who became a crucial weapon in the Chargers’ offense from 2003-18 (and whose techniques can still be seen from current Chargers wideout Keenan Allen, among others), will assuredly get other chances. His numbers – 955 career receptions, 11,841 yards and tight end records for touchdown catches (116), multi-touchdown games (21), third-down touchdown catches (39) and seasons of eight or more TD receptions (eight), make the case. And he passed the eye test long ago for those of us who watched the San Diego Chargers over those years and witnessed firsthand the contributions of Gates, LaDainian Tomlinson and Philip Rivers to an explosive offense.

Yes, this is a head-scratcher.

Antonio Gates not being a first ballot is an absolute embarrassment, they should be ashamed.

— Shawne Merriman (@shawnemerriman) February 9, 2024

It would be nice to know exactly why he was cast aside this time, while Dwight Freeney, Devin Hester, Andre Johnson, Julius Peppers, Patrick Willis and senior candidates Steve McMichael and Randy Gradishar got in. But, again, secrecy. …

• This is the process: There are 50 selection committee members, almost all current or former media members who cover or have covered the league. One comes from each league city (and two each from the two-team markets, L.A. and New York), one represents the Pro Football Writers’ Association, and 17 are at-large voters. After winnowing the field to semifinalists and finalists, they meet in person to discuss each finalist. A player needs 80 percent of the vote, or 40 of the 50, to get in. And no one, not even the voters themselves, knows how anyone else voted. …

• Part of the process involves a selector – generally one who covered a player – introducing his candidacy and making the case for it. As former Chargers and league executive Jim Steeg pointed out, Gates’ best years came in San Diego and there is no one representing that market on the panel.

However, Eric Williams of Sports Illustrated – who covered the San Diego Chargers for ESPN when that organization had beat writers for each NFL team – represents L.A. on the panel. Former San Diego Union-Tribune beat writers Clark Judge and Jim Trotter (the latter currently with The Athletic) are at-large selectors. I have to imagine they spoke up for Gates.

In fact, Judge revealed that the discussion over Gates’ candidacy lasted 35 minutes, 47 seconds of a nearly 8½-hour meeting. (Presumably, they served lunch.) …

• When the new class is inducted in July in Canton, there will be 323 players enshrined. To date, there are nine tight ends – Tony Gonzalez, Shannon Sharpe, Charlie Sanders, Dave Casper, Ozzie Newsome, Kellen Winslow, Jackie Smith, John Mackey and Mike Ditka.

Someone really needs to explain why Gates shouldn’t be going in this year as the 10th. …

• The Chargers will have one (sort of) representative this summer. Freeney anchored the Indianapolis Colts’ defensive line for 11 of his 16 seasons, but he was a Charger in 2013 (when the team made the playoffs and won a first-round game in Cincinnati) and 2014 (when they were eliminated with a loss in Kansas City on the last day of the regular season) …

• Meanwhile, on the subject of future Hall of Famers, we said the night of Clayton Kershaw’s Game 1 start against Arizona last October in The Ravine that it was hard to imagine that would be his last act as a Dodger. Thankfully, we were right. …

• Forget that abysmal start. Remember how effectively he pitched down the stretch with a bum shoulder. Assuming he’ll be back to full health when it’s time to rejoin the team, Kershaw will be a better addition than anyone Andrew Friedman and Brandon Gomes could pick up at the trade deadline. …

• Item: Chip Kelly leaves UCLA to become Ohio State’s offensive coordinator. Comment: The good news is that Martin Jarmond now has a chance to hire someone who has a visible commitment to the school and the growth of its football program.

The bad news? Who’s left to poach? By waiting, Chip did one last disservice to UCLA. …

• Now that a National Labor Relations Board official has ruled that Dartmouth basketball players should have the opportunity to unionize, and with another ruling likely to determine the same for USC players, a suggestion: Let’s retire the NCAA-favored term “student-athletes.”

Call them what they are: “Student-employees.” …

• Sunday’s prediction: The Swifties will help CBS draw a record TV Super Bowl viewership, breaking last year’s 114.2 million viewers for Chiefs-Eagles.

As for the final score between Kansas City and San Francisco? Sorry. Not helping you there.

jalexander@scng.com

So, the fit seemed natural.

Roman served as an associate head coach under Harbaugh at Stanford during the 2009 and ’10 seasons. Roman then joined Harbaugh when the San Francisco 49ers hired them for the 2011 season, reuniting them as offensive coordinator and head coach, respectively, for the next four seasons.

In addition, Roman was the Baltimore Ravens’ offensive coordinator from 2019 to ’22, serving on the staff of Coach John Harbaugh, Jim’s older brother. Roman didn’t coach this past season, departing the Ravens after their loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in an AFC wild-card playoff game.

The Chargers also announced they hired Marcus Brady as their passing game coordinator.

Roman’s hiring means Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert will be working with his third offensive coordinator in as many seasons when spring practices begin in a few months. Moore came to the Chargers from the Dallas Cowboys to replace Joe Lombardi, who was fired after the 2022 season.

Herbert threw for a career-low 3,134 yards this past season, sitting out for the final four games because of a fractured right index finger that required surgery. He said on Jan. 8, one day after the Chargers finished last in the AFC West with a 5-12 record, that he hoped to begin his offseason program on schedule.

Of working with a new offensive coordinator, Herbert said, “It’s part of the job.”

Roman’s reputation as an offensive coordinator is rooted in the running game. The Ravens were the NFL’s top-ranked rushing offense during his four seasons with Baltimore, averaging 175.2 yards per game. He was named the league’s top assistant coach in 2019 by The Associated Press.

Roman began his coaching career in a variety of capacities with the Carolina Panthers in 1995, joined the Houston Texans as a tight ends coach and later as a quarterbacks coach in 2002 before becoming an offensive line coach in the first of his two stints with the Ravens in 2006.

He also was the Buffalo Bills’ offensive coordinator from 2015 to ’16 before he rejoined the Ravens as a tight ends coach in 2017. He was promoted to offensive coordinator two years later, helping the franchise to a 14-2 record while coaching quarterback Lamar Jackson to league MVP honors.

Baltimore averaged 206 yards rushing and 33.2 points per game in 2019.

Roman was hired two days after the Chargers hired Jesse Minter to be their new defensive coordinator, replacing Derrick Ansley, who reportedly is in line to become an assistant with the Green Bay Packers. Minter served on Harbaugh’s staff at the University of Michigan the past two years.

Alexander spent the past five seasons as the New York Jets’ director of player personnel. He also spent 20 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, where Hortiz worked for 26 years before the Chargers hired him to replace Tom Telesco, who was fired along with Coach Brandon Staley on Dec. 15.

Krawiec joined the Chargers from the Ravens, for whom he served as a statistical strategist within their player personnel department. He worked on what the Chargers described in their announcement of his hiring as cutting edge research and analytics for Baltimore’s day-to-day operations.

JoJo Wooden retained his job as the Chargers’ director of player personnel, overseeing their pro and college scouting departments, a job he has held since 2013. Hortiz praised Wooden earlier in the week for helping to ease his transition to the Chargers from the Ravens.

“I’ve known JoJo for a long time,” Hortiz said. “He’s been great in helping me through the transition. Obviously, I’m jumping into a lot of different things, so I need the personnel side to keep running. They’ve done a great job. I had a great call with them (earlier this week). I really enjoyed it.

“They had a lot of great questions. I have to translate. I come from a different process than they’re used to (with different) grading scales (for players) and the way their calendar works. My job is to be the translator for them in terms of what they do now and what they’re going to do going forward.”

Minter made the announcement that he was leaving Michigan with a farewell post on X (formerly Twitter) earlier in the day. He will replace Derrick Ansley, who was the Chargers’ defensive coordinator for one season after he took over for Renaldo Hill, who left for the Miami Dolphins after the 2022 season.

The Wolverines had the nation’s top-ranked defense while posting a 15-0 record this past season, giving up 247 net yards per game. Minter, 40, was a finalist for the Frank Broyles Award after the 2022 season, given to college football’s top assistant. He also was defensive coordinator at Vanderbilt for one season.

Harbaugh coached Michigan for nine seasons before the Chargers hired him on Jan. 24.

In addition, the Chargers are expected to announce they have hired former Michigan strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert in the next few days. Michigan’s players raved about Herbert’s work with them during the run-up to their national championship victory over Washington last month.

Greg Roman, a former offensive coordinator with the Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers, is expected to be hired for the same job by the Chargers. Roman would replace Kellen Moore, who spent one season with the Chargers before being hired this week by the Philadelphia Eagles.

Roman, 51, and Harbaugh worked together when Harbaugh coached at Stanford and later with the 49ers. Roman also was on the staff of Harbaugh’s brother, John, while with the Ravens. Roman departed Baltimore after the Ravens’ wild-card loss to the Cincinnati Bengals following the 2022 season.

Jay Harbaugh, Jim’s son, also departed Michigan and is expected to be hired as the special teams coach with the Seattle Seahawks. It likely means the Chargers will retain Ryan Ficken as their special teams coordinator. Ficken has bolstered the Chargers’ special teams play the past two seasons.

Will NFL historians look back and marvel at what was, in fact, the beginning of the end of Chargering?

Will the kids in the team’s fandom teach their future children that it was the hiring of Coach Jim Harbaugh and then General Manager Joe Hortiz that ushered in a happier era, winning to match the vibes at their introductory news conferences?

Because, from the here and now, with the Chargers replacing Brandon Staley with Harbaugh and Tom Telesco with Hortiz, the team looks the part of a can’t-miss prospect. It looks like a five-tool prospect, a five-star recruit; all the potential in the world.

The Chargers landed Harbaugh, the most sought-after coach on the market, and they’re teaming him, a so-called “quarterback whisperer,” with Justin Herbert, one of football’s great young QBs. They’re also reportedly finalizing the hire of defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, who will follow Harbaugh from Michigan, where they won this season’s College Football Playoff national championship.

Team owner Dean Spanos finally stepped up and gave fans what they actually wanted, and he splurged to do it, too, reportedly signing Harbaugh to a deal that will pay him $16 million annually for five years.

And they’ve paired Harbaugh with Hortiz, a general manager of his liking – this is no “arranged marriage,” said John Spanos, president of football operations – who has a proven knack for drafting. What this is, to cite the men themselves, is Batman and Robin (but no tights, Hortiz specified). Or Red and Andy Dufresne, from “Shawshank Redemption.” Partners.

Harbaugh, a former Chargers QB, led the San Francisco 49ers to three NFC championship games, Super Bowl XLVII and was named the NFL Coach of the Year in his first three NFL seasons before his issues with the 49ers’ front office eventually led him back to college.

Hortiz – who has ties to Philadelphia and Delaware, as well as Auburn – spent 26 years prepping for his first GM role, ascending throughout the Baltimore Ravens’ ranks, where he found his calling not as a coach but as a scout and player personnel person. His insight helped Baltimore win two championships along the way – and, in recent history, make it as far as the AFC championship game, where the Ravens lost to the Kansas City Chiefs, 17-10, on Jan. 28.

With guys like these at the helm, what could go wrong?

Lots! Life! A bolt of lightning!

Now that people in L.A. see that the other NFL team in town has furrowed its brow and gotten serious in the aftermath of a 5-12 season? Now that so much more will be expected? Now that they’ve said it aloud? First Harbaugh last week: “The Lombardi Trophy, that’s my mission.” And Hortiz on Tuesday: “We’re going to bring you a trophy, Dean. We’re going to get it done. I have four boys who have two rings. We’re getting the other two, at least!”

What could make such a seemingly sure-fire bet go bust? Chargering could.

Because it will take fortitude and good fortune to vanquish that pesky, annoying verb that’s been whispering subconscious putdowns for 63 years. That infectious notion that comes to mind only at the worst times, resulting in blown leads and blowouts, injuries and mental miscues, all of it spelling out the NFL’s textbook definition of underachievement.

But, you know what? Forget all that. Forget I asked. Stop thinking about what’s next.

Live in the moment, for a moment. Block out the scenes of this year’s Super Bowl walkup playing on the screens before Hortiz’s news conference began; don’t worry about whether they’ll prove an omen or a tease.

Don’t rush the reveal, the part where you find out whether it’s everything it’s cracked up to be.

Give Hortiz a hot second before he sits down to solve the Chargers’ salary cap conundrum – they’re $44 million over and have four veterans due for significant cap hits, including edge rusher Khalil Mack ($38.517 million), edge rusher Joey Bosa ($36.611 million), wide receiver Keenan Allen ($34.717 million) and wide receiver Mike Williams ($32.46 million).

I promise, we’ll get to those comp picks Hortiz is so fond of in due time. But first, chew on Tuesday a bit.

Savor this moment of possibility – an achievement in itself.

Harbaugh in plaid, gnawing on some gum, nodding and beaming in the back.

Hortiz seated at the dais, dabbing raindrops and sweat off of his bald head.

The engaging 48-year-old executive waving his arms, talking fast and answering enthusiastically every question directed his way during his first news conference as a GM, the Spanos family looking on all the while.

checks all the boxes pic.twitter.com/kNvxw8gB3r

— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) February 6, 2024

“Listen, in personnel, if you ask any scout what are the three things you want?” Hortiz said. “You want great ownership. Check. You want a great head coach. Check. You want a great quarterback. Check.

“Any scout that walks into a GM role, if you say I have those three things, you have a chance. You have a chance to be really good. And we have a chance, here, to be really good.

“This,” he said, “is a dream job.”

And now it’s time to get to work.

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  New Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh, left, speaks with new Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz after Hortiz’s introductory news conference on Tuesday at the team’s headquarters in Costa Mesa. Can this duo usher in a happier future for the franchise? (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  New Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz speaks during his introductory news conference on Tuesday at the team’s headquarters in Costa Mesa. Hortiz joined the Chargers after spending 26 years working for the Baltimore Ravens. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  New Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz speaks during his introductory news conference on Tuesday at the team’s headquarters in Costa Mesa. Hortiz joined the Chargers after spending 26 years working for the Baltimore Ravens. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  Chargers owner Dean Spanos, right, listens to new Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz speak during his introductory news conference on Tuesday at the team’s headquarters in Costa Mesa. New Chargers new head coach Jim Harbaugh is at back center. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  New Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz speaks during his introductory news conference on Tuesday at the team’s headquarters in Costa Mesa. Hortiz joined the Chargers after spending 26 years working for the Baltimore Ravens. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  New Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz speaks during his introductory news conference on Tuesday at the team’s headquarters in Costa Mesa. Hortiz joined the Chargers after spending 26 years working for the Baltimore Ravens. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  New Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz speaks during his introductory news conference on Tuesday at the team’s headquarters in Costa Mesa. Hortiz joined the Chargers after spending 26 years working for the Baltimore Ravens. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  New Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz, center, arrives for his introductory news conference on Tuesday at the team’s headquarters in Costa Mesa. Hortiz joined the Chargers after spending 26 years working for the Baltimore Ravens. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  New Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh, left, speaks with new Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz after Hortiz’s introductory news conference on Tuesday at the team’s headquarters in Costa Mesa. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  New Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz speaks during his introductory news conference on Tuesday at the team’s headquarters in Costa Mesa. Hortiz joined the Chargers after spending 26 years working for the Baltimore Ravens. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  New Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz speaks during his introductory news conference on Tuesday at the team’s headquarters in Costa Mesa. Hortiz joined the Chargers after spending 26 years working for the Baltimore Ravens. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  New Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh laughs as he listens to new Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz speak during Hortiz’s introductory news conference on Tuesday at the team’s headquarters in Costa Mesa. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  New Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz speaks during his introductory news conference on Tuesday at the team’s headquarters in Costa Mesa. Hortiz joined the Chargers after spending 26 years working for the Baltimore Ravens. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  New Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh laughs as he listens to new Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz speak during Hortiz’s introductory news conference on Tuesday at the team’s headquarters in Costa Mesa. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  New Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz speaks during his introductory news conference on Tuesday at the team’s headquarters in Costa Mesa. Hortiz joined the Chargers after spending 26 years working for the Baltimore Ravens. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  Chargers owner Dean Spanos, center, speaks with new Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh, right, following the introductory news conference for new Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz on Tuesday at the team’s headquarters in Costa Mesa. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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 stronger and tougher.”

It’s one thing to say it and another to actually do it, though, as Chargers fans down the years will tell you again and again. Hortiz acknowledged the hard work and the challenges ahead. He also laid out some of his priorities during a nearly 40-minute question-and-answer session.

Suffice it to say, a culture change is underway within the Chargers with his hiring on Jan. 30, which came six days after Jim Harbaugh was lured away from the University of Michigan. Hortiz replaced Tom Telesco and Harbaugh replaced Brandon Staley as the head coach, after they were fired on Dec. 15.

“It’s team, team, team,” Hortiz said. “That’s real. We want guys to have that mentality, to persevere, to fight. Up 30, down 30, we’re playing hard all the way to the end of the game. High-character people. Players who care about each other, do the right thing. Those are the things we’re going to be looking for.”

Hortiz’s background has served him well to this point. He recalled beginning his career as a graduate assistant at Auburn University, his alma mater. He said he would arrive at 7 a.m. each day to get the coffee started before the staff meeting. He broke down video. He ran the youth football camps.

It was grunt work, but it got him noticed.

Ozzie Newsome, the Ravens’ GM at the time, hired him in 1998.

“Alabama guy hiring an Auburn guy,” Hortiz said, shaking his head in wonder.

Jim Harbaugh was the Ravens’ quarterback at the time, nearing the end of a 14-year NFL career that concluded with a two-year stint with the Chargers in the 1999 and 2000 seasons. One afternoon in 1998, Harbaugh invited Hortiz to play racquetball – a version of the sport, anyway.

“I was, like, ‘Oh my God, this is so cool,’” Hortiz recalled. “I was 22 years old. I’m a kid. I swear to you, I’m so blessed to be here today, that I got out of that room. I was getting thrown around. I’m ready to hit the ball off the wall and Jim comes in and just checks me into the middle of the court.”

Cutthroat was what it was.

Now, they’re together again, working side by side.

“I’ll talk to Jim every morning during the season and say, ‘Where can I help you get better,’” Horvitz said. “He’s going to say, ‘Joe, I need an inside (line)backer. We need to upgrade.’ Well, that’s what we’re going to go out there and do. You do it through free agency. You do it pre-draft, post-draft in free agency. You do those summer signings, the cap casualties. Things to do to protect comp picks and then, really, just churn the bottom of the roster. Always looking to get better.

“Always looking to improve every week.”

“I tried to emulate Ted Lasso in a lot of ways,” Jim Harbaugh said Thursday afternoon, in his official introduction as the Chargers’ head coach, referencing the title character of one of his favorite shows. “I think there’s a life lesson in every one of those episodes.”

And yeah, I know: Where else but the shadow of Hollywood would life and art mesh together just so?

Maybe there’s a correlation of sorts, if ever so slight. In the fictional world that the Apple TV+ show inhabited, Richmond AFC was a forlorn club, one taken for granted by the rest of English soccer. In real life, the Chargers are known primarily for … well, for Chargering, which is sort of how we got here.

But give team owner Dean Spanos and his son John, president of football operations, credit in this case. They didn’t go the safe, economical route by giving an assistant his first head coaching job. Harbaugh, fresh off a national championship celebration at the University of Michigan, is returning to the NFL largely because he sees a chance to make history as just the fourth coach to win a college national championship and a Super Bowl.

And, as he made clear during Thursday’s introduction at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood, on the SoFi Stadium grounds, he’s not afraid to recite his goals publicly.

“We stated the goal,” he said. “I’m not going to be shy about stating that, you know, that’s what we want to do. We want to be known as world champions. And we’re going to work at that; we’re going to do it or die trying.”

What’s the bigger hurdle: The fictional coach with no previous soccer experience getting his team (spoiler alert, for those who haven’t yet watched) promoted to the Premier League? Or overcoming 60 real-life seasons of often frustrating history and bringing the Chargers their first Lombardi Trophy?

Or is it maybe doing the latter and turning SoFi into a true home environment on Chargers game days, with powder blue dominating the stands? Have we said this is a gargantuan ambition?

“I only got so many hours – sand left in the hourglass,” he said. “And I want another shot, one of those shots at (being) simply known as the world champions, (winning) the Lombardi Trophy. You know, that’s my mission. And, I’m happy, grateful to have this opportunity and already attacking it.”

To recap, he has a history of turning downtrodden teams into very good ones. At Stanford, he took a team that was 1-11 the year before he got there, and 16-40 over a five-year stretch, to 8-5 within three years and then 12-1 and an Orange Bowl victory – and if you’re a USC fan you might forever remember, and grumble about, losing 55-21 to the Cardinal at the Coliseum in 2009 and Pete Carroll snapping “What’s your deal?” at Harbaugh afterward.

(Carroll, by the way, is one of the three coaches who have won it all in college and the NFL. The others: Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer.)

Harbaugh took over a 49ers franchise that had gone 46-82 with no playoff appearances over its previous eight seasons and, within four years, got them to three NFC championship games and a Super Bowl – though denied that gleaming silver trophy by older brother John and the Baltimore Ravens – before a split with management. And at Michigan, which had lapsed into mediocrity under Brady Hoke, Harbaugh’s teams were 89-25 and capped a 15-0 2023 season by winning the crystal football just 3½ weeks ago.

His new assignment? This should be a much better Chargers team than this past season’s 5-12 record would indicate, though the talent on this roster is about to run up against an unforgiving salary cap. According to overthecap.com, they’re $45.8 million over at this moment with 49 players under contract.

But quarterback Justin Herbert isn’t a bad starting point. Harbaugh indicated Thursday that such talent and potential create immense possibilities, but it also implies an amount of responsibility on his own shoulders. For one thing, he said he intends to study every single one of Herbert’s NFL snaps on video in the coming weeks.

“The thing that’s jumping out is just this enormous talent,” he said. “I’m waking up, like, real early in the morning these days, going, ‘I gotta bring it. I got to bring my A game in every sense of the word,’ I want to get a coaching staff put together and hired that’s going to be worthy of coaching not only Justin, but, you know, Derwin (James Jr.) and all the guys.

“I really think this is a talented group that’s been assembled here, and that’s what’s going to motivate me. That’s what’s going to drive me. … I’m excited about the challenge. You know, let’s see if I’m man enough, you know, a good enough coach so that all his hard work can be realized.”

The organizational goal is to turn the Chargers into, if not destination viewing, at least on equal terms with their SoFi Stadium landlords, the Rams.

The buzz that comes from signing the best available coach on the market? Winning the press conference is a good start, but only a start.

jalexander@scng.com

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  New Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh, holding a jersey, poses with team owner Dean Spanos, left, new Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz, second from right, and Chargers president of business operations John Spanos at Harbaugh’s introductory press conference Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024, at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood. (Photos by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

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  New Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh speaks during his introductory press conference on Thursday at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood. (Photos by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

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  New Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh speaks during his introductory press conference on Thursday at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood. (Photos by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

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  New Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh speaks during his introductory press conference on Thursday at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood. (Photos by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

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  New Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh speaks during his introductory press conference on Thursday at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood. (Photos by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

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  New Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh speaks during his introductory press conference on Thursday at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood. (Photos by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

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  Jim Harbaugh introduced as the new Chargers head coach during a press conference on Thursday at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood. (Photos by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

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  Chargers owner Dean Spanos speaks before introducing Jim Harbaugh as the team’s new head coach during a press conference on Thursday at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood. (Photos by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

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  Chargers president of business operations John Spanos speaks before introducing Jim Harbaugh as the team’s new head coach during a press conference on Thursday at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood. (Photos by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

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  New Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh speaks during his introductory press conference on Thursday at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood. (Photos by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

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  New Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh, right, poses with team owner Dean Spanos as Harbaugh is introduced during a press conference on Thursday at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood. (Photos by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

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  New Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh calls broadcaster Jim Hill a legend as he asks a question during Harbaugh’s introductory press conference on Thursday at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood. (Photos by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

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  New Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh speaks during his introductory press conference on Thursday at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood. (Photos by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

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  New Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh speaks during his introductory press conference on Thursday at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood. (Photos by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

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  New Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh speaks during his introductory press conference on Thursday at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood. (Photos by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

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  New Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh speaks during his introductory press conference on Thursday at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood. (Photos by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

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  New Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh speaks during his introductory press conference on Thursday at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood. (Photos by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

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  New Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh speaks during his introductory press conference on Thursday at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood. (Photos by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

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  New Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh, center, with team owner Dean Spanos, left, new Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz, second from right, and Chargers president of business operations John Spanos pose for pictures as Harbaugh is introduced during a press conference on Thursday at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood. (Photos by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

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  New Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh speaks during his introductory press conference on Thursday at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood. (Photos by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

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  New Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh speaks during his introductory press conference on Thursday at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood. (Photos by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

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  An image projected on a video board shows new Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh during his days as a quarterback for the team during his introductory press conference on Thursday at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood. (Photos by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

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  New Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh speaks during his introductory press conference on Thursday at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood. (Photos by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

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  New Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh speaks during his introductory press conference on Thursday at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood. (Photos by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

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  New Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh, right, poses with his family during his introductory press conference on Thursday at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood. (Photos by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

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  New Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh, center, team owner Dean Spanos, left, and Chargers president of business operations John Spanos pose for pictures as Harbaugh is introduced during a press conference on Thursday at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood. (Photos by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

INGLEWOOD — Jim Harbaugh stood behind a lectern stationed between two clusters of native plants. He wore a dark blue suit, a white shirt, a gold tie and wire-rimmed glasses for his introductory press conference on Thursday, a commanding presence on a stage inside a darkened, 6,000-seat theater.

The Chargers could have held it at their temporary headquarters in Costa Mesa or at their still-to-be-completed facility in El Segundo. But they went big, determining it was important to put Harbaugh in front of bright lights and cameras and reporters and his new employers, the Spanos family.

Harbaugh, 60, answered questions for nearly an hour, a session that was short on specifics and long on the sort of rah-rah, let’s-get-after-it cliches you might have expected to hear at a corporate sales retreat. It was more like a political rally, with homespun tales and midwestern charm.

“We want to have a team Vince Lombardi would be proud of,” Harbaugh said at one point near the end, referring to the legendary Green Packers coach of yesteryear, the man for whom the NFL’s championship trophy is named. “We want to be world champions. We’re going to do it or die trying.”

How might a middling Chargers franchise actually win a championship? How might they take advantage of the remarkable talents of quarterback Justin Herbert and his teammates? How might they edge further into the Los Angeles sports landscape? How will the coaching staff be assembled?

These and other specific questions largely went unanswered beyond a string of platitudes that might have enthralled a gathering of alumni and boosters at the University of Michigan, Harbaugh’s previous place of employment. But it had some reporters rolling their eyes as the afternoon wore on.

Harbaugh did allow that his priority would be assembling his coaching staff now that Baltimore Ravens director of player personnel Joe Hortiz had been hired as general manager. Harbaugh said the process was ongoing and declined to confirm or deny any names as offensive or defensive coordinators.

“We’ve got to get the staff hired and then we’ll start looking at the roster,” he said.

Hortiz will have his own introductory press conference on Tuesday.

Harbaugh has been on the job for a little more than a week, hired on Jan. 24, a little more than a month after Brandon Staley was fired along with GM Tom Telesco, one day after a 63-21 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Dec. 14. Harbaugh was the most high-profile candidate of the 15 the Chargers interviewed.

After all, he was fresh from coaching the Wolverines to a 15-0 record and their first national championship in a generation earlier this month, capping a nine-year run at his alma mater. The only question was whether he could be enticed to return to the Chargers, the team with whom he ended his 14-year NFL career.

Dean Spanos, the Chargers’ owner, spoke of talking with Harbaugh while his delayed flight was snowbound on the tarmac in Michigan. Spanos told Harbaugh there would be another storm Thursday for his press conference at the YouTube Theater, part of the sprawling SoFi Stadium complex.

“Dean, we are the storm,” Spanos recalled Harbaugh saying.

Spanos’ tale elicited laughter and cheers from the many visitors who were invited to the press conference in addition to a larger-than-normal collection of reporters and camera crews. It was not the last time a well-told story would invite that sort of reaction, with Spanos telling the audience:

“Our fans deserve a day like this.”

Harbaugh began by greeting longtime TV personality Jim Hill of Channel 2 as “a legend” with Hill quickly returning the compliment. Harbaugh then referred to veteran columnist Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times as “another legend,” and the press conference was off and rolling.

“The team, the team, the team,” Harbaugh said without going into specifics when asked how he might go about changing the Chargers’ well-known culture from disappointments year after year to consistent winners year after year. “My job is to put the team in a position to be successful.”

“A crown jewel,” he said of Herbert before he then segued oddly into an anecdote about cleaning out the weight room in Costa Mesa the other day, visiting Home Depot to rent a Shop-Vac to get the place shipshape for the many players sticking around Orange County to work out during the offseason.

“Faith, family, football,” he said several times of his life’s priorities.

“Work together, win together,” he said, repeating a family motto.

“Who has it better than us?” he said, another family motto.

Harbaugh also revealed the 1970s-era hit “The Rockford Files,” starring the late James Garner, was his favorite TV show and he suggested that he might drive his RV out from Michigan and park it in Orange County until the Chargers make their move into their new El Segundo headquarters later this year.

“I want to Jim Rockford-it for the next few months,” Harbaugh said of possibly living in his RV, as Garner’s private investigator did in a trailer in a parking lot next to the beach in Santa Monica. Or was it Malibu?

No one had the heart to tell him Garner was a Raiders fan.

We have two of most every team in every major team sport. We have two major conference college programs operating cheek-to-jowl with major league franchises. We get cameo appearances from almost all of the itinerant sports circuits, starting with this Sunday’s NASCAR Clash in the Coliseum (although it would be nice if the tennis tours would again land in the nation’s second-largest market in the summertime, rather than merely touching down in Indian Wells in March).

Also, dare I point out, we will have our third Olympic Games four years from now. Before that, if FIFA and Stan Kroenke could mend fences, SoFi Stadium would be hosting World Cup matches in two years (and maybe some of the expanded Club World Cup next summer).

And I don’t even have to mention the cornucopia of prime-time athletes that this region continues to pump out annually. You name the sport and we’re represented.

So let’s go big. SoCal is not only the preeminent sports community in North America, but I’ll make the case that it’s unmatched on this planet. The phrase “Sports Capital of the World” sounds way too boosterish, but doesn’t it fit?

What other city on earth has the multitude of sports attractions – i.e., competition for attention – that we do? For example, in most countries, the sport we know as soccer is considered King Football. Here, it has to fight for market share and for attention with four other major professional sports. And there are good reasons Major League Soccer avoids the fall-winter-spring scheduling cycle observed by the rest of the world, the most important being the NFL behemoth, i.e. our very own King Football.

Meanwhile, what other metropolitan area on this continent can match the sports chops of this sprawling community made up of L.A., Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties?

New York? Sorry, not much of a college football profile. Boston? Only one of everything (and they haven’t had a duck boat parade in a couple of forevers). Chicago: Solo NBA and NHL teams (plus, ahem, the Bears). The Bay Area? Close, but they have only one soccer team, they’ve lost the Raiders and are about to lose the A’s, regrettably.

Oh, and here’s the kicker and a spoiler alert: The leader (again) in our annual rankings of SoCal’s teams might as well be considered Japan’s team, too.

As has been the case since we began these lists in 2005 at The Press-Enterprise, the ranking is determined by multiple factors – a mixture of winning, historic importance in the market, interest level and, not insignificantly, the passion of a team’s followers.

The beauty is that, with rare and obvious exceptions, the teams in this market understand what it takes to be competitive not only in their own leagues but in the fight for fans’ attention. In other words, those in charge understand that if you’re a big market team, you’d better act like one.

(And you might notice that there are a couple of additions to the list this year. If you capture the fancy of the greater SoCal public, you deserve to be here.)

So, as SoCal’s newest coach likes to say, who has it better than us?

The list, with the 2023 ranking in parentheses:

1. Dodgers (1): Seen in a local store: A blue T-shirt with “OHTANI” in the style of the “HOLLYWOOD” sign. That says it all, doesn’t it? No team, anywhere, acts the part of a big market franchise so well. That fan bases elsewhere are grumbling “not fair?” All the better.

2. Lakers (2): Yes, they’re struggling to get a foothold this season. That only reminds us of the expectations of their followers, for whom Laker Exceptionalism isn’t just a slogan but a way of life. (And, at times like this, maybe a curse.)

3. Rams (8): What was that again about paying the price in order to win a Super Bowl? As long as they can keep Matthew Stafford healthy, their immediate future seems bright.

4. Clippers (7): It’s hard to have championship expectations when, you know, stuff repeatedly happens. But why shouldn’t this well-run, well-coached, talented team make a deep playoff run … and, perhaps, even have a chance to hang a banner in its new arena? (So, if you’re a Lakers fan and you’re confronted with a Clippers-Celtics final, who do you root for?)

5. Angel City (12): ACFC, along with the San Diego Wave, showed the people who run the National Women’s Soccer League that avoiding Southern California all those years was a grave mistake. The L.A. team’s average home attendance in its two seasons: 19,105 in 2022, 19,756 in 2023. Any surprise that the league is about to expand to the Bay Area in 2024?

6. (tie) UCLA women’s basketball and USC women’s basketball (not ranked in 2023): It’s a perfect storm, with the surge in interest in women’s sports and particularly women’s college basketball dovetailing with two championship-caliber teams. The line wrapped around Pauley Pavilion waiting to get in before the teams’ first meeting on Dec. 30 was an eloquent statement all by itself.

8. USC football (3): The high hopes built in 2022 came crashing down in 2023, as a team of mercenaries played like it down the stretch. But the Trojan fan base has regained its passion and expectations and, yes, a little bit of swagger after a dreary decade.

9. Chargers (6): Could this fan base ever use some swagger? They might get their wish, if Jim Harbaugh does what the multitudes expect.

10. LAFC (4): They might not have been able to defend their MLS Cup title, but this is a well-run team with a passionate fan base that is going to be a factor for a while.

11. UCLA men’s basketball (5): The young Bruins might indeed have a run in them down the stretch, and it’s pretty well established that Mick Cronin won’t let this program wither. But it’s been almost three decades since the last banner, and this is another fan base that has trouble settling.

12. Kings (10): A year ago – heck, six weeks ago – they seemed to be building toward a shot at another Stanley Cup, a decade after their last one. But the recent whopper of a slump has called into question not only players’ effort and coaching but the way General Manager Rob Blake built this roster. The most devoted fans in this market deserve better.

13. Angels (9): Arte Moreno and the rest of his organization should feel fortunate that so many fans still care about this team. There’s little reason to expect improvement unless new Manager Ron Washington is indeed a miracle worker.

14. USC men’s basketball (11): A promising season has turned sour, and is there any real evidence that the USC faithful notice or care? They average 6,228 at home, and their best home crowds were a 10,300 sellout against UCLA and 9,806 against Long Beach State – and how many of those were there early to await JuJu Watkins and the USC women in the nightcap?

15. UCLA football (14): Yes, they were 8-5, and yes, they beat Boise State in the Gronk Bowl at SoFi Stadium, but the Chip Kelly era remains distinguished by a lack of fan passion.

16. Galaxy (13): They were once MLS’ flagship franchise. Now they’re an afterthought in their own town and starting over.

17. Ducks (16): Rebuilds are difficult, especially two or three seasons in. The Ducks are now six seasons removed from their last playoff berth and finally seem to be moving forward, slowly.

18. Sparks (15): And here, a rebuild is just beginning. This is another former flagship franchise trying to find its way again, and at least they’ll have a No.2 draft pick to work with.

jalexander@scng.com

Clearly, the promise of a consistent contender was not met during the regime of Telesco and Staley, whose middling 24-24 record while working together during two-plus seasons underscored the need for change in leadership. So, Spanos and his son, John, the director of football operations, made those changes.

Bold ones, in fact.

One half of their moves were made last Wednesday, when they lured Jim Harbaugh back to the NFL after he coached the University of Michigan to the national championship earlier this month. The second half was completed when they hired Joe Hortiz as their new GM on Tuesday.

Hortiz, 48, spent 26 years in the Baltimore Ravens’ organization, including the past five seasons as the team’s director of player personnel. He worked closely over the years with Ravens coach John Harbaugh, Jim’s older brother, so the connection to the family seemed like a natural fit in L.A., too.

If nothing else, for better or worse, the Chargers are a family-run business.

“Joe is one of the most respected player evaluators and personnel minds in the league, whose contributions to the Ravens’ front office over the past two decades cannot be overstated,” John Spanos said in a statement. “When you consider his football IQ, eye for talent, ability to think both short and long term as it pertains to roster construction, organization, thoroughness and ability to be creative within the confines of our collective bargaining agreement, it’s hard not to be excited about the future.”

John Spanos praised Hortiz’s depth of experience, rising through the ranks of the Ravens’ scouting department over the years while working with current GM Eric DeCosta and his predecessor, Ozzie Newsome, a Hall of Fame tight end who is now Baltimore’s executive vice president.

Spanos also said Hortiz was “without a doubt the right person” for the job.

Hortiz and New York Giants assistant GM Brandon Brown emerged as finalists during a process that began with an interview Jan. 10 with Chargers longtime director of player personnel JoJo Wooden, who served as interim GM after Telesco was fired. Hortiz and Brown were the only candidates to interview twice.

“When you’ve had the privilege of working with one organization your entire career, something that’s exceedingly rare in our business, the opportunity and fit has to pretty much be perfect to consider a change,” Hortiz said in a statement about leaving the Ravens. “This is that opportunity. … Then, of course, having known the Harbaugh family for all these years and the chance to continue that special relationship in this new role, I truly could not be more fortunate.”

Hortiz’s story is an old one, one easily identifiable as someone determined to be a football lifer from an early age. Now that the GM job is his, he’s been tasked with fulfilling the Chargers’ promise, a mission put into motion with a series of astute moves by Telesco but one that couldn’t be completed for whatever reason.

Telesco drafted well, including his selections of quarterback Justin Herbert and safety Derwin James Jr. in recent years, and he also acquired exceptional talent via free agency and through trades, particularly the deal that brought outside linebacker Khalil Mack to the Chargers from the Chicago Bears.

The Chargers finished 5-12 this past season. They were 10-7 during the 2022 season, but lost in epic fashion during the AFC wild-card game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, squandering a 27-0 lead en route to a 31-30 defeat that cast significant doubts on their leadership abilities.

Telesco and Staley survived, but he didn’t make it through the 2023 season.

Now, it’s Hortiz’s turn to make his mark in a new job with a new franchise.

Hortiz worked as a graduate assistant coach at Auburn University, his alma mater, from 1995 to ’97 and then was hired as a personnel assistant with the Ravens in ’98. He became an area scout in 2001 and then a national scout in ’08. He was promoted to director of college scouting in ’09.

In 2019, he moved up to become the Ravens’ director of player personnel. During his tenure, the Ravens advanced to the playoffs four times, including this past season, when they lost to the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC title game this past Sunday.

Baltimore was 56-27 over the past five regular seasons, including 13-4 in 2023.

“The Chargers’ brand, the uniforms, foundational building blocks already on the roster, a new training facility, SoFi Stadium and a clear commitment from the Spanos family to dedicating every resource possible towards bringing a Lombardi trophy home to our fans, it’s all there,” Hortiz said.