USC's California Recruiting Momentum is Creating a Real Advantage

USC landed a huge commitment from Damien (Calif.) four-star safety Gavin Williams over Notre Dame, UCLA, and Washington on Sunday afternoon.

Williams completes an impressive recruiting class for the Trojans in the 2027 cycle, which includes five-star athlete Honor Fa’alave-Johnson, who will play safety, and four-star cornerbacks Aaryn “J.O.” Washington and Danny Lang. All four are from Southern California and rank as top 100 prospects according to the 247Sports.

USC Trojans Become Preeminent Recruiting Force in California

USC Trojans Recruiting Class Gavin Williams Danny Lang Mater Dei Southern California Chad Bowden Lincoln Riley — Sep 30, 2023; Boulder, Colorado, USA; USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley during the game against the Colorado Buffaloes at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Chet Strange-Imagn Images | Chet Strange-Imagn Images

Williams, Fa’alave-Johnson, Washington and Lang were the Trojans' top targets in the secondary, and they landed all four. And landing all four signals a major changing of the guard with USC in recruiting. They are officially the dominant recruiting force in California once again.

After signing nine of the top 25 overall prospects in California in the 2026 cycle, five more than the next closest program, the Trojans began to regain control of their state. Southern Cal signed a total of 20 in-state prospects and another two in five-star freshman offensive tackle Keenyi Pepe and four-star linebacker Talanoa Ili, who are originally from the state. But it’s not enough to do it once. In order for the narrative to change, it has to become a norm, and that’s exactly what has happened.

In the 2027 cycle, USC holds a commitment from five of the top 10 recruits and six of the 15 recruits in California. No other program has more than one in the top 15, per 247Sports. Washington does not count towards those rankings because he is playing his senior season at IMG Academy (Fla.). But prior to transferring in January, Washington starred in the same secondary as Lang at Mater Dei (Calif.).

Four-star receiver Quentin Hale, a top 50 recruit, four-star offensive tackle Drew Fielder, who flipped his commitment from Oregon to USC in March, four-star receiver Eli Woodard and defensive lineman Alifeleti Tuihalamaka are prized recruits from Southern California in the class. Of the Trojans 14 commitments in the 2027 class, 11 of them are from California. And a year after signing the No. 1 class, they are once again in position to land another top-five class.

Building a fence around California doesn’t mean signing every top prospect in the state because there are more than three blue-chip prospects in the state, and there are other programs that have NIL resources and can recruit at a high level. But those schools can no longer recruit the state of California as they once did for the last decade. USC is no longer being out-recruited for prospects in their backyard.

Following a Blueprint

USC Trojans general manager Chad Bowden hired from Notre Dame Fighting Irish | USC Trojans Video Youtube

When USC pulled Chad Bowden away from Notre Dame in January 2025, he made it clear from the start that he was following a blueprint laid out by former coach Pete Carroll, who led the Trojans to a dominant run in the 2000s. Two national championships, three Heisman Trophy winners and seven consecutive 11-win seasons and conference championships.

Those rosters and the ones that saw brief success in 2016-17 were filled with local players.
California, specifically the 70-mile radius around the Trojans' campus, is a recruiting hotbed. It’s an area flooded with elite Power Four talent every cycle. However, other programs had largely taken over the area during coach Lincoln Riley's tenure until Bowden arrived.

The Trojans new general manager didn't do it alone. Southern Cal assembled an All-Star personnel department that includes assistant general manager Dre Brown, executive director of high school recruiting relations Aaron Amaama, executive director of player personnel Max Stienecker and director of recruiting Weston Zernechel. The moves have taken pressure off of Riley on the recruiting trail, although he still has a hand on the everyday operations, but also helped move the program into the modern era of college football.

USC Trojans Chad Bowden Recruitment Mater Dei Danny Lang Trovon Reed Aaryn Washington Mark Bowman Spring Practice Visit — Sep 27, 2025; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley before an NCAA football game with the Illinois Fighting Illini at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images | Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

It also included a revamped coaching staff under Riley. Last January, USC hired inside receivers/tight ends coach Chad Savage, cornerbacks coach Trovon Reed and moved Zach Hanson from tight ends to offensive line coach. Three moves that have reflected in their recruiting surge and player development.

This offseason, USC hired defensive coordinator Gary Patterson, linebackers coach/special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler, safeties coach Paul Gonzales and nickels coach Sam Carter. Skyler Jones was promoted from analyst to defensive tackles coach, and analyst AJ Howard went to outside linebackers coach.

It’s one thing to recruit at a high level. Developing talent is a completely different thing. And the Trojans have put a staff in place that can do both and could rival the staff Carroll had during the program's heyday. It has become a collective effort, top down, to change the temperature of the program and its trajectory.

“It's everybody sharing that same vision, pulling the rope in the same direction, having that competitive stamina that if you want to be great, we talked about it, greatness requires greatness,” Savage said in April. “If you want to be great with scheme, you got to invest the time. If you want to be a great recruiter, you got invest the time with relationships. And Coach Riley is always talking about greatness requires greatness. And so us coaches have to live that every single day.”

How USC Changed its Fortunes on the Trail

Since making major changes to its entire staff, the Trojans have been relentless on the recruiting trail, particularly with local prospects. USC is taking advantage of having a high number of blue-chip prospects within a close proximity to campus.

Lang was at USC three times during its first week of spring practice in early March, and it wasn’t the first time he had visited the school more than once in a week. They brought him out again the following week for a more intimate visit inside the Coliseum, which sealed the deal and led to his committing. Williams has been on campus more than a handful of times in the past year. And earlier this month, USC used a helicopter to send three staff members to visit him at his school.

Texas had remained in pursuit of Fa’alave-Johnson, who announced his pledge in March, so last week, the Trojans sent four staff members in a helicopter, while defensive ends coach Shaun Nua drove down to San Diego to meet with their five-star recruit. Shortly afterwards, Fa’alave-Johnson announced that he was shutting down his recruitment.

Local high schools have been hosting College Showcases this month, and USC has made its presence felt, most notably at national power St. John Bosco, the home of three-star linebacker commit Josiah Poyer, when they sent five staff members. They are not just landing commitments. They are securing them. Schools have tried to poke at their commits the past couple of cycles, but have had no success.

Three things have drastically changed for the Trojans in recruiting. Southern Cal was severely lacking in NIL resources and was far behind their counterparts. For a brand like USC in a city like Los Angeles, it was surprising. When NIL took center stage in 2021, USC was a school that was expected to thrive in this new era. It may not have happened originally, but over the past two recruiting cycles, with improved NIL collectives, they have done exactly what was expected.

The culture has changed under Riley, Bowden and athletic director Jen Cohen working in unison. There is structure in the program. And then USC has done a tremendous job of building strong relationships with recruits during the process, and after they are committed, has continued to have the same approach, treating them as a high priority. But the relationships also extend to restoring local pipelines, which has effectively led to more success in recruiting.

The groundwork has been laid, and the best way to elevate a program is recruiting at an elite level, creating a sustainable model and structure inside the program.

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