The Chargers have officially interviewed Interim General Manager JoJo Wooden for the position full time.
Wooden was selected to serve as interim canned both their head coach and general manager in an in season blowout after the team failed miserably to meet the front office expectations.
Although it was his first time in that role in the NFL, Wooden has been a rising star in scouting for 16 years before arrive to the Chargers as Director of Player Personnel prior to the change since 2013.
Wooden oversaw both the team’s college and pro scouting departments as the Director of Player Personnel.
His job included helping run the draft as well as the NFL’s free agency period.
Before joining the Bolts however, Wooden spent 16 seasons with the New York Jets, beginning in 1997 as a pro personnel assistant. He served in that position until 1999, when he became a pro scout.
Wooden would work his way up to senior AFC pro scout in 2001 and eventually to assistant director of pro scouting in 2003, before eventually become the director of pro scouting for the Jets from 2004-2006.
And in his final six seasons with the Jets, he held the position of New York’s Assistant Director of Player Personnel before ultimately coming to the Chargers.
Wooden was present at the NFL’s Front Office & General Manager Accelerator Program as the Chargers representative at the League Meeting in Dallas last month.
It was his third time attending the program’s event since its launch in 2022, as he was nominated by the club and then vetted by an NFL selection committee with people from across player personnel, football operations and assistant general manager disciplines for the opportunity to build relationships with club owners and executives ahead of the hiring cycle.
Prior to starting his NFL front office career, Wooden was an outside linebacker at Syracuse from 1989-1992. He redshirted his first year and played 46 games during his career with the Orangemen.
Syracuse would go on to play in five bowl games during his time with the team, and Wooden started his final two years at Syracuse in which the school posted back-to-back 10-2 seasons and finished ranked in the Top 10.
After graduating from Syracuse, Wooden would spend training camp with the Cardinals in 1993.
During Wooden’s time at Syracuse, he got to play with his older brother, Terry, who would go on to be a second round pick in the 1990 NFL Draft.
Terry would play nine seasons in the NFL and now has been with the Saints since 2007, currently holding the position of a National Scout in New Orleans.
