College Football Analyst Praises USC Trojans’ Chad Bowden’s Recruiting Approach

Lincoln Way-East (Ill.) four-star quarterback Jonas Williams and Mater Dei (Calif.) four-star defensive lineman Tomuhini Topui have described the USC Trojans 2026 recruiting class as “generational” when discussing their top-ranked spot.

Williams and Topui both originally committed to Oregon but flipped their pledges to USC in the spring. For years, the Trojans had struggled in recruiting battles against the Ducks, particularly with prospects in their own backyard, but the 2026 cycle has been a different story.

“That’s been a common theme this spring. How many guys that were committed to Oregon or leaning towards Oregon ended up at USC,” said Brandon Huffman of 247Sports.

USC holds 30 commitments, including 17 from the state of California, plus, IMG Academy (Fla.) five-star offensive tackle Keenyi Pepe and Kahuku (Hawaii) four-star linebacker Talanoa Ili, who are originally from Southern California.

“Now I’d love to give the credit to Lincoln Riley, he’s the head coach, but the reality is this is Chad Bowden’s fingerprints all over this,” Huffman said. “Because Lincoln Riley was on record saying a little more than a year ago, when fans were wondering why we’re not recruiting Southern California? Why are we not recruiting the West Coast, this is our home base. Why are we chasing after guys from Georgia and Texas that ultimately aren’t going to come this way?

“And he said, 'We’re a national brand, we need to recruit nationally.' And they would recruit nationally and lose those guys. Meanwhile, those Southern California’s they tried to circle back to in the end were already knee deep in the school they ended up at.”

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Last fall, it appeared the Trojans were headed towards a top 10 recruiting class. Instead, they had eight recruits decommit, six of which were blue-chip prospects (four or five-star), in the weeks leading up to the 2025 early signing period.

USC finished strong, flipping local five-star quarterback Husan Longstreet from Texas A&M and landing five-star defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart, but finished at No. 15 in the final rankings. A disappointing result for school that is flooded with blue-chip recruits within a two-hour drive of campus.

The Trojans made a major chances to its personnel and coaching staff this offseason, headlined by hiring Bowden away from rival Notre Dame in January to become their new general manager.

“Chad comes in and completely revamps the entire focus of how they’re recruiting and so, they’ve cleaned house in Southern California,” Huffman said. “They’ve been able to recruit nationally. You look back at the Pete Carroll years, you look at the success they had was winning with those local players and the west coast kids.

“The focus has really been on the Southern California’s and then you can go grab a few guys here and there that are from the Midwest, from the southeast, from the East Coast.”

Carroll built a fence around the state of California in recruiting during the program’s heyday in the early 2000s and then the Trojans would venture outside of the state to recruit. The strategy lead to USC winning back-to-back national championships in 2003-04, appearing in another in 2005, and seven consecutive seasons of at least 11 wins.

Bowden has successfully restored the Trojans recruiting pipeline with Mater Dei, landing Topui, five-star tight end Mark Bowman and four-star linebacker Shaun Scott. USC has not signed a recruit from the national powerhouse since the 2022 cycle.

Of the top 20 prospect in California, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings, the Trojans hold a commitment from six of them, which includes Bowman, Topui, four-star EDGE Simote Katoanga, four-star cornerback Brandon Lockhart, four-star running back Deshonne Redeaux and four-star receiver Trent Mosley. The next closest programs are Ohio State and Miami with two.

Running back Deshonne Redeaux looks for running room during the third quarter of Oaks Christian's 35-0 Marmonte League win over St. Bonaventure Friday night at Redell Field. | JOE LUMAYA/SPECIAL TO THE STAR / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

USC has made noise outside of the state landing elite talents such as Archbishop Hoban (Ohio) five-star cornerback Elbert Hill, Richardson (Texas) four-star defensive lineman Jaimeon Winfield, Hun School (N.J.) four-star EDGE Luke Wafle and Corner Canyon (Utah) four-star IOL Esun Tafa.

Summer official visit season may be over, but the Trojans are not done adding to what is shaping into a program-altering class.

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