Mater Dei High School Coach Visits USC Trojans, Lincoln Riley For Spring Practice

The USC Trojans are recruiting at an elite level, partially because of the new emphasis being placed on recruiting the best prospects out of Southern California. As a result, USC coach Lincoln Riley and general manager Chad Bowden have made clear efforts to build relationships in the area, most recently hosting Mater Dei High School coach Raul Lara for spring practice.

Mater Dei is known for producing some of the best high school football players in the area, with a list of notable alumni that includes former Trojans quarterbacks Matt Leinart and Matt Barkley as well as current Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young. Former USC receiver Amon Ra St. Brown, now with the Detroit Lions, is perhaps the biggest name currently in the NFL that attended both USC and Mater Dei.

Lara is not the only high school coach to be welcomed onto USC's campus for spring practice as the Trojans hosted a contingent of St. John Bosco coaches earlier.

Oct 28, 2023; Berkeley, California, USA; USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley before the game against the California Golden Bears at California Memorial Stadium. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Mater Dei head football coach Raul Lara at USC on Thursday ✌🏼 @On3USC pic.twitter.com/K6pxnQ3r5o
— Scott Schrader (@SSchraderOn3) April 17, 2025

With Riley leading the way, however, the pipeline between Mater Dei and the Trojans suffered a dry spell. The last Mater Dei recruits that signed with USC were in the 2022 class: five-star defensive back Domani Jackson, four-star receiver C.J. Williams, and four-star running back Raleek Brown.

Now, Riley and the Trojans appear to be focusing on Southern California powerhouses like Mater Dei in order to build their recruiting class. In the 2026 class, USC already holds a commitment from four-star defensive lineman Tomuhini Topui out of Mater Dei.

Bowden spoke about the importance of recruiting Southern California and schools like Mater Dei shortly after being hired by the Trojans. He revealed some of USC's recruiting strategy in a meeting with the media.

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“We’re going to do everything through the city. We’re going to do everything through the state. That’s going to be our primary focus. Now, it doesn’t mean we’re not going to dip into other states because you have to. We’ve done a lot of research. I do a lot of research every place I’ve been. Something that we’ve found is back when national championships were won here, when Rose Bowls were won here, you look at Pete Carroll’s classes. . . over 80 percent of recruiting classes were from the state of California,' said Bowden.

As Bowden notes, the Trojans are heavily recruiting the state of California. USC is pushing for other Mater Dei recruits like five-star tight end and four-star offensive lineman, as well as Oregon Ducks commit, Kodi Greene.

Dec 18, 2020; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (8) scores on a 47-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter against the Oregon Ducks during the Pac-12 Championship at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Not only has Bowden revamped USC's recruiting efforts in Southern California, he also emphasized his plan to use the Trojan's name, image, and likeness budget in an effort to bring the best players to the program.

“We’re as aggressive as anyone,” Bowden said. “We might even be the most aggressive. Our aspirations for what we’re going to do in NIL are as high as anyone in the country and I hope people know it.”