'Bow Up': Chad Bowden wants college football to know USC is coming for everything

It's been my (admittedly non-controversial) opinion that USC is the program that best positioned itself to level up during the 2024-25 college football offseason. Not only did USC spend big to hire Notre Dame general manager Chad Bowden to perform the same job at Los Angeles, Bowden brought his No. 2 assistant with him from South Bend, then also hired the directors of player personnel at Illinois and Wisconsin to work under him.

Dre Brown, formerly the director of player personnel at Illinois, is now USC's executive director of personnel and scouting. "He, I think, is one of the best evaluators in the entire country," Bowden says. Wisconsin director of player personnel Max Steinecker ("very structured, detailed and organized") is now USC's executive director of personnel. USC also retained director of player personnel Weston Zernechel ("he's one of my favorite people in the profession") and brought Zaire Turner from Notre Dame to serve as assistant AD for recruiting and operations ("You need somebody to tell you, 'You're wrong, and here's why.'")

After listening to Bowden's 45-minute interview with USC's in-house podcast, I'm not changing my opinion, but I am changing the verb. USC did not level up this offseason, it Bow-ed up. 

"I want people to know we're coming. I want teams to know we're coming in recruiting," Bowden said. "We're here, we're going to be here for a very long time. Our ability to recruit these young people, develop real relationships with these kids and families, our aggressive push that we have in building this roster, going into the new era of college athletics, we are going to be blazing a trail opposed to just being a part of it. We're going to be the leaders of it. What a ranking says to me, I've never cared for, but I can tell you when we go after the kids we really want in recruiting, they're going to know."

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That flavor of... bravado? boasting? aggression? has been evident in the early stages of the 2026 recruiting cycle. With 15 pledges, USC's 2026 class ranks first in the 247Sports composite. The Trojans have landed seven commitments since February, including defensive tackle Jaimeon Winfield (No. 66 nationally) out of Richardson, Texas, on Friday morning. On Tuesday, the Trojans landed Trent Mosley, a wide receiver out of nearby Santa Margarita Catholic. The No. 106 player in the class, Mosley happens to be a Notre Dame legacy.

"We are not going to take a backset to any program in the country," Bowden said. "We are going to be aggressive, thoughtful, and any time someone recruits against us, they're going to know that we're ready for the fight."

Bowden said USC will focus its roster-building efforts on recruiting California high schoolers, with an eye toward a 3-year roster development. This is the best high school class in the state of California, probably, in two decades," Bowden said. 

Time will tell how tall and sturdy the fence USC builds around the Golden State proves to be, but Bowden is not wrong about the strength of the 2026 class. Led by quarterback Ryder Lyons (the No. 6 player in the 247Sports composite, and predicted by experts to sign with USC), California boasts six of the nation's top 27 players, along with 10 of the top 59, 18 of the top 106, and 21 of the top 126. 

Put into context: the 10th-ranked player in California's class of 2026 (Mater Dei wide receiver Kaydon Dixon-Wyatt) is the 59th-rated player in the country. In 2025, California's No. 10 player was No. 129 nationally. In 2024, he was No. 138. 

More pressing for USC, the Trojans whiffed on the elite players California did produce. In 2023, USC signed four of California's top 23 prospects. In 2024, they went 1-for-15. Last year, USC was 2-for-18.

Those days are over, Bowden says. "We're coming for it. These kids know, these high school coaches know, and everywhere in the country with how we're recruiting knows it too."

USC's recruiting strategy, it seems, begins with Bowden's forward-facing public posture. And the quotes listed above are just a taste. 

Over 45 minutes, Bowden offered enough bulletin board material that USC's rivals probably sent an intern to Pottery Barn to buy a new board just the quotes Bowden uttered in this interview alone. Behold:

-- "We don't sit backseat to anybody. We're coming for every single program in that light. We want them to know we're here. The place to be resides in Los Angeles, California, the No. 1 market in the United State of America, and the greatest city for high school football, for high school coaches. When USC football is at its peak, there is not a hotter ticket in town. When USC football is where it's supposed to be, there is not a greater place in the sport. I truly believe in that and look forward to helping it get there.

-- "I want college football to catch up to us. I want everybody to sit there and say, 'Man you see what they're doing?' They already are, quietly, which has been really fun the last 30 days... They're calling and asking around, what is going on at USC? And I'm loving every minute of it, because we're coming." 

-- "I'm not saying next year we're going to win a national championship. I'm not going to go out here and say that, but I know we have a plan that is going to give us an opportunity to sustain winning. That will (put us in a place) to where we are in the Playoff every single year, and knocking on the door every single year."

-- "Here's the thing about this football program: We are so close. It's closer than people think. There are tweaks here and there, little things that can enhance this program that we're going to do that can help this place reach where it wants to go, which is the top." 

-- "I think about every program, every day. I thought about them during the dead period, and that's why we worked the hardest, is I wanted to beat everybody. We're going to beat everybody in March, and April, and May, and tomorrow at 1 a.m., and tomorrow at 2 a.m., and tomorrow at 3 a.m. Every single moment of every single day, we're going to climb the mountain. And when we get to the top, that's when we take pictures." 

-- "It might not be right now, but it's coming."

-- "There is no better time to be at USC. This is the moment. Our time to win is now. And we're going to win this new era of college athletics, and when we're in the national championship very soon, everyone's going to think back on these moments." 

Oh, everyone's going to be thinking back on these moments, Mr. Bowden. I don't know if USC is going to win a national championship or not, but I can guaran-damn-tee no one in college football recruiting is going to forget this moment right now.