At Wednesday’s exit interview, Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz was asked if any member of the coaching staff had received outside interest from other organizations. Hortiz kept it close to the chest by revealing that there was interest but that he would keep it inside the organization.
“Certainly there’s interest in a lot of people on our staff,” Hortiz said. “And for good reason. I’m not going to relay any of that information.”
A few hours later, it was revealed that the first official Chargers interview request was not from the coaching staff. Assistant GM Chad Alexander from the front office received a request to interview with the Las Vegas Raiders for their GM vacancy.
#Chargers assistant GM Chad Alexander was requested to interview for the #Raiders vacant GM job, source said.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 16, 2025
The first big hire of GM Joe Hortiz, Alexander is a rising member of the LA front office and was a participant in the NFL's Accelerator Program in Dallas.
Raiders interview Chargers assistant GM Chad Alexander for GM vacancy
Alexander was Hortiz’s first big hire as assistant GM. Both spent over two decades with the Baltimore Ravens in various roles. In 2019, Alexander left the Ravens to take the Jets’ director of player personnel job for five years. Hortiz held the same director of player personnel title with Baltimore before both came to Los Angeles.
Last month, Alexander participated in the NFL’s front office and general manager accelerator program in Dallas. He said this about the idea of becoming another team's general manager in the future:
"If that opportunity presents itself, I'd be really fired up and honored to have that happen for sure," Alexander said. "At the end of the day though, you always want to continue to learn. Philosophically, you want to keep trying to add to your personal book of knowledge."
The Raiders are still in the midst of their head coaching search led by owners Mark Davis and Tom Brady. There is reported momentum for Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to become the next head coach inside the building, per multiple accounts and reports.
Could Alexander be a potential GM partner for Johnson? Perhaps, but it seems Las Vegas’ power structure would be willing to give Johnson say on who he’d be working with at GM.
It remains to be seen whether the request will be honored, but the Chargers could have their first successful departure from the front office after a successful 11-6 campaign.