Chad Bowden speaks on building a program that truly prioritizes players' needs at USC

For some, USC's coach Lincoln Riley will never be in good graces until the Trojans are at least in the College Football Playoff picture. Wins, and compiling a lot of them, are the ultimate metric that all are judged by in this business. To only narrowly define progress or success and failure by that standard is incomplete at best, however.

A lot is going on throughout the program and in the sphere of college sports. There will always be many moving parts that cannot be accounted for. Programs will do their best to overcome obstacles or even look to anticipate changes. Even the best efforts can fall short sometimes.

While speaking with COLLECTIVE FOOTBALL, as shared by the account on X, GM Chad Bowden discussed a lot of what the operations side of the Trojans looks like in today's collegiate climate.

When listing out all of the duties and areas of concern, the football part of the team almost seems like a throw-in task. There are a lot of aspects that coaches and personnel have to attend to that simply cannot be overlooked. Before players ever step foot on the practice field, let alone for a game at the Coliseum, a lot of work happens behind the scenes.

A lot is made of how Bowden's introduction to USC has helped the Trojans to earn the top recruiting classes. How he and the staff have gotten there needs to be appreciated more.

Important focus for USC

It is not about money or anything of that nature. Instead, how this staff truly invests in the current and future student-athletes is what has allowed the Trojan personnel to earn the trust of the young talents.

During a clip from the interview, Bowden shared:

"There's so many things that are going on in these kids' lives that you are a part of every single day."

Depending on the program, different schools will prioritize and apportion time based on what they feel is best. For some, the equivalent of lip service is enough to hope to get by in the non-football areas. USC is making it the backbone of the program.