Subtlety is not the nature of Chad Bowden.
USC's new general manager is showing as much again Tuesday.
Multiple sources tell FootballScoop that Bowden is hiring away Max Stienecker from Wisconsin to become USC's executive director of personnel. He had been Wisconsin's director of player personnel the past two seasons.
It's yet another striking move for Bowden, who last week hired away a top personnel executive from yet another Big Ten foe -- Dre Brown of Illinois.
Bowden also hired away former Notre Dame DPP Zaire Turner last week to become USC's assistant athletics director for recruiting operations.
Additionally, Bowden and USC elevated Weston Zernechel into the role of director of recruiting.
The thought process, sources told FootballScoop, is that Bowden now fields a staff he believes contains several future general managers at the Power Conference-level.
Stienecker's addition at USC is a reunion of sorts; he and Bowden worked closely together in Cincinnati's recruiting department.
Bowden then was Marcus Freeman's first hire at Notre Dame, after Freeman took over as defensive coordinator in January 2021, and Stienecker remained with Luke Fickell at Cincinnati. He then followed Fickell to Wisconsin prior to the 2023 season.
Last month, Bowden's peers voted him FootballScoop's 2024 top personnel executive for his work on Notre Dame's roster. The Fighting Irish won three College Football Playoff games and finished runner-up to CFP national champion Ohio State.