USC Trojans is gearing up to open Spring practice on Tuesday, March 25, putting Lincoln Riley on the cusp of his do-or-die fourth year at South California. Before the regular season kicks off Riley has built up a head-turning 2025 recruiting class headlined by two key players, five-star quarterback Husan Longstreet and five-star defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart. But in the ever-growing NIL-dominated portal trend, the USC head coach needs to be consistent in his aggressive talent pull game and needs a huge money backup for the same. The latest intel brought fresh air into that aspiration.

The university fosters the House of Victory collective and the NIL fundraisers in an attempt to align with the evolved college football structure and attract more money to the funds to support student-athletes. Now, USC AD Jennifer Cohen is taking things to the next level from the monetary front. Jen Cohen took over the challenging yet promising role of USC athletic director nearly 18 months ago. She inherited Lincoln Riley as head coach, witnessed a crucial transition to the Big Ten, and brought a new men’s basketball coach in her first year at South California while constantly brainstorming the solutions to cope with the changing landscape of college athletics.

It seems she has finally found the pointer worth $174 million, a large part of her $225 million goal for the construction and development of the new football facility and Dedeaux Field. Breaking down the latest intel, USCJ lost In Tha Sauce podcast show noted, ”USC is doing some phenomenal things. Right now, we have currently raised $174 million. We’re talking about almost getting this thing paid off and the finances continue to come in and if you guys haven’t donated, anything helps, I donated just $100, I mean, you, some might be able to donate 20 House of Victory that they’ll even send you, well, not even House of Victory, it’s actually, Chad Bowen, that actually sends you an email saying “Look man thank you.”

New GM Chad Bowden has a long-standing vision for the USC football as well. He is working relentlessly to bring the Trojans back to national prominence. He firmly believes the Trojans are a sleeping giant, and he’s determined to revitalize them. When this philosophy, coupled with Jen Coen’s USC’s time-to-win campaign and collective effort to make holistic progress in all the 23 sports that the University represents, something big is bound to happen.

the USCJ host continued focusing on the brighter side of the picture: ”I believe Chad Bowden has really restored the faith as well as Jennifer Cohe helped restore the faith of this Trojan fan base and the money came in so fast that now we’re starting to see a situation to where you know how it is we could just do it you know let it trickle down on ourselves. USC can possibly have a situation where the resources are just going to be through the roof and we can now start getting these athletes the way we need to get them, man.” USC primarily draws NIL money from a combination of NIL Collectives and partnerships with agencies like BLVD LLC. Riley’s vision and adaptability of new ideas have already made USC a talent hub with enhanced visibility.

With a new strategy of Bowden, the recruitment game can be sharper for the Trojans going forward.

Chad Bowden is changing the recruitment game at South California for the better

USC is focusing on the in-state talents big time. Chad Bowden factor, the new GM of the Trojans’ follows a revitalized approach to recruiting, prioritizing local talent over others to bridge the gap to national competitiveness. ON3’s   Scott Schrade pointed out, “The addition of Chad Bowden the general manager has really been a game-changer…the way kids are talking about USC in Southern California collectively I have not heard in 10 plus years.” Also, defensive back coach Dough Belk is taking the reins to spearhead recruiting at South California.

The kids are really excited to come and play under the radar of the ex-Notre Dame GM and Belk. USC, have so far, 15 commitments on board with an emphasis on the locals, obviously. The ones that keep them hanging in the air are RB Deshonne Redeaux, OL Sam Utu, etc. Also, Bowden and the Co. are going all in, taking five-star tight end Mater Dei (Calif) on board as another blue-chip in-state recruit after they hosted him for an unofficial visit last week.

We will see how many more talents land in the program going forward, but the Chad Boeden effect is so real. “Chad Bowden the GM said it’s going to be the largest high school recruiting class they’ve taken ever. So I know when Lane Kiffin first came in USC, I think it was about 37 guys they brought in…So it wouldn’t be surprising at all if they took 35 or more.” the ON3 journalist recapitulated the faith while Bowden keeps on fostering his big vision for the program.