MidValleySports.Com

By Tim Peterson

After a 7-6 season last year the USC football program had to sit down and figure out what their biggest need was. What is the biggest need of every college football program in the nation today? Players, recruits, guys that can perform on the field.

Yes, the Xs and Os are important but not as big as the Jimmys and Joes. Good coaching makes a difference but let’s face it if you don’t get the players and the results are a couple of losing seasons, the coach is the first one to get fired.

In today’s college football landscape how do you get the best players? At a place like USC it’s no longer a case of telling the five-star recruit that the beach and the mountains are both just 20 minutes away. You’re not going to convince the best linebacker in the country to commit because it’s 75 degrees and sunny every day. The quarterback who stands 6’5″ and has a rifle for an arm isn’t immediately going to jump on board because LA is the place to be.

No it’s a different ballgame now. With NIL (Name, Image, Licensing) now in place, and the transfer portal along with revenue sharing being at the forefront of the sport a General Manager is needed. Yes a GM, as in NFL style GM, is necessary to run a college football program. That’s exactly what the USC Administration realized when they hired Chad Bowden as GM.

The Trojans hired Bowden away from Notre Dame where, as the GM, he has had experience with NIL deals, high school recruiting and the transfer portal. USC needs help on the offensive line to compete with the big boys in the Big Ten. Bowden has been instrumental in recruiting and developing offensive linemen at Notre Dame better than most programs in the nation in the last 10 years.

Bowden has been busy already having just recently flipped highly recruited quarterback Jonas Williams from Oregon and also got a commitment from 4-star defensive lineman Simote Katoanga.

Zaire Turner, who served as Notre Dame’s director of player personnel for the past three seasons, is joining Bowden at USC as assistant AD of recruiting operations.

Also Max Stienecker, who was most recently at Wisconsin, will be the Trojans executive director of personnel.

There is also a Snead joining the Trojan family. No it’s not Rams GM Les Snead, but it’s his son Logan who will be in an analyst role that will focus on recruiting and the transfer portal.

It’s a new world in college football and the Trojans are beginning to adapt to this different environment. Chad Bowden and his crew look like a great start.