USC Trojans Make More Front Office News After Chad Bowden Hire

With the new hire of Chad Bowden as the USC Trojans general manager, coach Lincoln Riley has reassigned Dave Emerick from general manager to chief of staff. It's a familiar role for Emerick, who has held the title at previous stops.

Nov 30, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley reacts against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the second half at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

After the hiring of Chad Bowden as the USC Trojans' new general manager, the Trojans program has reassigned Dave Emerick, who formerly held the title of general manager, to be the program's chief of staff.

Emerick and USC coach Lincoln Riley are both disciples of legendary coach Mike Leach, and Emerick was one of the first hires Riley made when he moved to USC. It makes too much sense for Riley wanting to keep Emerick around in some capacity in the Trojans' support staff.

Dave Emerick is shifting into a chief of staff role at USC, sources tell @CBSSports/@247Sports.

Emerick has been a key behind the scenes figure for Lincoln Riley as USC’s GM and will now slide into that chief of staff role with the Trojans’ addition of Chad Bowden.… pic.twitter.com/bZGINRNpRa

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) January 25, 2025

This isn't the first time Emerick has worked as a chief of staff. Back in the early days of Riley's coaching career, the two worked alongside each other for Leach at Texas Tech with Emerick in the support staff and Riley in an on-the-field coaching role. Emerick also worked in a similar role at Washington State under Leach.

Emerick will still have a role in recruiting but will handle more of the behind the scenes aspects for the program. In addition, he will also retain his role as the senior associate athletic director for football for USC.

Keeping Emerick within the program is a sign of continuity within the support staff, something that is valuable among programs. It also allows a veteran presence to help in whatever the program and Riley may need.

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Sep 21, 2024; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; USC Trojans helmet on the sideline during the game against the Michigan Wolverines at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

USC has showed it is embracing the modern times of college football with the new hiring of Chad Bowden. The program reportedly wanted to hire away Alabama's general manager Courtney Morgan, but the Trojans were unable to coax him from the Crimson Tide. Instead, they find their guy in Bowden, who was a major part behind the scenes in Notre Dame's run to the College Football Playoff title game.

The former general manager for Notre Dame, Bowden heads to USC to become the new GM of the Trojans. Bowden embraces the evolved meaning of general manager of college football program, which involves recruiting, roster retention, and NIL.

Although Emerick was involved with recruiting, Bowden offers a more involved approach. Bowden was named FootballScoops's Player Personnel Director of the Year earlier this month.

He came to Notre Dame from Cincinnati, where he followed then-defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman from the Bearcats to the Fighting Irish. Bowden worked his way up from recruiting staffer to director of recruiting to eventually GM of the program when Freeman replaced Brian Kelly as Notre Dame's coach.

Bowden is expected to make around $1 million dollars per year with the Trojans, according to 247Sports. That puts him among the highest paid general managers in all of college football.

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