USC Trojans Commits Simote Katoanga, Madden Riordan Talk Chad Bowden, Recruiting Class

The USC Trojans boast the No. 1 recruiting class according to every recruiting site in the 2026 cycle. USC commits Simote Katoanga and Madden Riordan talk about the impact of general manager Chad Bowden and recruiting in Southern California.

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

The USC Trojans have been relentless on the recruiting trail, putting together what has the makings to be a program-altering class for the 2026 cycle. USC currently holds 15 commitments, including 10 blue-chip recruits and boast the No. 1 ranked class according to every recruiting site.

The Trojans have embraced the changing landscape of college football and assembled an NFL-style front office that can compete with any program in the country. Chad Bowden came over from Notre Dame in late January to be USC’s general manager and has immediately made an impact leading the Trojans recruiting efforts. 

Zaire Turner came with Bowden from Notre Dame to be the assistant athletic director of recruiting operations. Dre Brown left Illinois, his alma mater, to be assistant general manager and former Wisconsin general manager Max Stienecker holds the title of executive director of personnel. Bowden, Lincoln Riley and athletic director Jennifer Cohen have been on the same page as far as what it’s going to take for USC to be successful in this new era. 

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

The energy around the program has “changed drastically” according to USC commit Madden Riordan since Bowden’s arrival and other recruits from across the country have taken notice. Pair that with a coaching staff that is filled with some of best recruiters in the country that do an excellent job of building strong relationships with high school recruits, and the end result could be the program’s highest-ranked recruiting class in a decade. 

Bowden had prior relationships with Lincoln-Way East (Ill.) four-star quarterback Jonas Williams and Santa Margarita (Calif.) four-star edge Simote Katoanga from his time in South Bend. Those relationships carried over when Bowden took the job at USC. Williams, an Oregon commit at the time, and Katoanga were at the Trojans Junior Day event in early February and then committed to USC later that month. 

“The staff they have at USC is phenomenal, adding Chad just took the program to another level, Katoanga said. “Chad was the first guy I met at Notre Dame when I first visited last year. One of the first GM’s I met that had this type of energy I usually only see with coaches. But with Chad and when he met my family, we could feel the hype around him.”

Bowden is following a blueprint laid out by former USC coach Pete Carroll to bring the Trojans back to national prominence. Carroll built a fence around California in recruiting during the program’s heyday in the 2000s. Of the 15 commits, nine of them are from the state of California, led by Rancho Cucamonga four-star cornerback RJ Sermons, the top-ranked cornerback in the On3 rankings.

They only signed five recruits from California in the 2025 cycle. The Golden State is flooded with elite talent in the 2026 cycle in what Bowden describes as the “best class California has had in two decades.”

USC landed four big commitments this week in St. Francis (Calif.) three-star John Fifita, Santa Margarita (Calif.) four-star receiver Trent Mosley, Corner Canyon (Utah) four-star interior offensive lineman Esun Tafa and Richardson (Texas) four-star defensive lineman Jaimeon Winfield. Mosely, of course is Katoanga’s high school teammate. Katoanga has been pushing for Mosley as well as other recruits in Southern California with a strong recruiting pitch. 

Nov 16, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley watches game action against the Nebraska Cornhuskers during the second half at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

“Let’s change the narrative and build something special,” Katoanga said. “Let’s be the historical class that people will talk about for years to come that brought back a national championship to USC and LA.”

Riordan, who grew up a USC fan has also went to work as a recruiter to build up his class. So has Loyola (Calif.) four-star cornerback Brandon Lockhart, a Los Angeles native. They both spent time recruiting local prospects at Junior Day and continue to actively push for other blue-chip recruits to join them at USC. 

“I’m in contact with the other members very often and we have all been recruiting the other kids in SoCal pretty hard,” Riordan said. “Most of the other recruits we are trying to get are on our teams so the recruiting never stops.”

Two of Riordan’s Sierra Canyon teammates are high on the Trojans priority list, five-star edge Richard Wesley and five-star cornerback Havon Finney. Wesley and Finney both reclassified from the 2027 to the 2026 class this month and Riordan’s message to them is simple, “stay home and be a part of something special.” Sierra Canyon is home to another USC commit, three-star receiver Ja’Myron Baker. 

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After signing 23 high school recruits in the each of the last two recruiting cycle, Bowden wants to far surpass that number as he aims to sign the most high school prospects in the history of USC football.

"We're going to take the most high school kids this place has ever taken this year," Bowden told reporters at a roundtable this month. "I truly believe a culture can be built through recruiting, and it can be done, especially when they're from high school. We're [going to] recruit the most guys we ever have." 

USC signed 29 recruits in the 2011 cycle, which finished No. 3 in the country and then signed 28 in the 2015 cycle, which finished as the No. 1 class. 

The Trojans have their eyes set on a number of highly sought-after in-state prospects, including Folsom five-star quarterback Ryder Lyons and four-star offensive tackle Vlad Dyakonov, Mount Miguel five-star cornerback Brandon Arrington, Orange Lutheran (Calif) four-star interior offensive lineman Samuel Utu, Archbishop Riordan four-star interior offensive Tommy Tofi and Mission Viejo four-star receiver and Georgia commit Vance Spafford. 

They have targeted a pair of standouts from Oaks Christian in four-star running back Deshonne Redeaux and four-star cornerback Davon Benjamin. 

“I think the ‘26 class in the best in Cali in a long time, so signing a majority would mean a top-3 class easy,” Riordan said. 

Nov 2, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley stands on the sideline during the fourth quarter against the Washington Huskies at Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Four-star linebacker Talanoa Ili recently transferred from nearby by Orange Lutheran to Kahuku high school in Hawaii but is still very high on the Trojans wish list. He recently visited USC for the second time this calendar year.

USC continues to push to rebuild its Mater Dei pipeline in recruiting. Four-star offensive tackle Kodi Greene and four-star defensive tackle Tomuhini Topui are committed to Oregon, while five-star receiver Chris Henry Jr. is committed to Ohio State. But that hasn't stopped the Trojans from heavily pursuing them. There are several uncommitted prospects from the top-ranked high school the Trojans have targeted, five-star tight end Mark Bowman, four-star receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, four-star linebacker Shaun Scott and three-star safety CJ Lavender. 

“The 26 class is stacked and there is so much talent all over the nation, a lot of elite talent are Polynesian and on the west coast,” Tafa said. 

While California has become a priority to USC in recruiting, they haven’t limited themselves to just elite talent in their backyard. In addition to Williams, the Trojans have two other commits from the Midwest in Harvey (Ohio) four-star running back Shahn Alston and Mount Caramel (Ill.) four-star defensive lineman Braeden Jones. 

As other programs work to establish a recruiting footprint in Southern California, the Trojans are doing the same in other states. They continue to be frequent visitors in the state of Georgia, where they hold a commitment from Gainesville five-star linebacker Xavier Griffin. But it doesn’t stop there, they have made numerous visits to Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina and Florida for this upcoming cycle.

USC will continue to be very aggressive on the recruiting trail from now until the Early National Signing Period in December.

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