Positive early USC football recruiting returns for Chad Bowden

Heading into his fourth year with USC football, Lincoln Riley knows that 2025-2026 will be a critical season for him and the Trojan program. Currently at 26-14, he'll look to not flirt with another .500 year as he did in the inaugural Big Ten debut. Despite the outcomes of many of those games, he did find himself in a lot of those close matchups, only unable to make the closing plays to pull off a win.

Things are looking much better for the Trojans at this point compared to last year. Jayden Maiava should have a better situation for himself as the eventual clear-cut number one heading into Missouri State on August 30th. More importantly, reports from spring practice suggest that this group is more together and competing well against each other.

Although a lot of this is second-hand knowledge at this point, aside from a few heated moments, the intensity and focus levels appear to be where they need to be in April. Those who have been near the team for a while also feel that it's a better atmosphere compared to past iterations.

This is thanks to and a credit to those currently on the roster. With the modern transfer portal era, athletes sticking around is becoming more rare. Between the returners and additions, coach Riley will have a good, deep squad to make his selections from. A lot of this will also be enhanced by the notable first-ranked recruiting class in the nation.

As noted by the USC football general manager, Chad Bowden, they want the pillars of the program to be on high school talent. Some elect to lean more on the portal, but the Trojans appear to be set on focusing more on recruiting and developing players out of high school. The approach has been a point of emphasis, particularly with the recent in-state strides.

Reclaiming California for USC football

Other schools had become too accustomed to being able to recruit in what should be USC strongholds. Re-establishing and maintaining the California pipeline will be needed to ensure consistent playoff appearances moving forward. Flipping Tomuhini Topui from Oregon, for example, and keeping Simote Katoanga in CA point to improvement with Bowden in his role.

As shared during his introductory press conference, the GM shared his philosophy of how to best bring talent to USC football:

"We're going to major in high school, and we're going to minor in the portal."

Staying committed and being patient in this approach will be key, especially if true freshmen don't necessarily give fans early flashes. For the aligned approach looking to invest in young college athletes, it's easy to see how the early enrollees are already making a difference in the culture on campus.

Ultimately, everything is going to come down to wins and losses. That is the nature of the business. Coach Riley and Bowden putting their careers on the line with what they view as the best approach could potentially give them a longer runway if some early losses begin to pile up for the Trojans.