It has been a busy offseason for Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans, even more so than just the usual hustle of recruiting. USC lost two position coaches to promotions at other programs. LB Coach Matt Entz was hired as the Head Coach at Fresno State, and OL Coach Josh Henson was hired as the OC at Purdue.
Riley set out to fill these positions and did so in a fantastic fashion. After moving Zach Hanson from TE Coach to OL Coach, he hired elite recruiter Chad Savage as the new TE Coach, and he brought in the incomparable Rob Ryan as the new LB Coach.
It was also announced just a short while ago that the Trojans would be shuffling their front office a bit and would be bringing in a new General Manager.
This was a move that has been celebrated by fans as it has felt like the one piece missing from the program truly being back.
However, bringing in new personnel for an important position is one thing, bringing in the right personnel is another.
Lincoln Riley and Jen Cohen have to get this hire right.
While the expectation had been that USC was targeting NFL executives, according to Matt Zenitz of 247 Sports, a top target has emerged for the role, and according to Tom Loy, that hire is now official.
USC Trojans Steal Away Chad Bowden From Notre Dame
Chad Bowden is considered one of the top personnel executives in College Football. After Michigan made a run to steal him away last offseason, Notre Dame officially promoted him to the title of General Manager. He was the director of recruiting less than a year ago before the promotion.
While 247 is reporting that the deal is done, On3 is reporting that it is in the final stages, but not yet official.
One source told me that it is pretty much a done deal, but LAFB will confirm once ink hits the paper.
This is a monumental move for USC to get a rising young star to run their front office and poach him away in a lateral move from a bitter rival.
Notre Dame went 14-2 (beating USC at the Coliseum in the last game of the season), and reached the National Title game, losing to Ohio State.
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Bowden, only 30, will take over an operation that has improved over the past year but still needs work to get USC back in the upper echelon. Dave Emmerick, the GM in title, is expected to remain in the USC front office but with a different role moving forward.
This is the third home run hire by Lincoln Riley and Jen Cohen this offseason, not to mention the ability to retain DC D’Anton Lynn as Penn State was lurking to steal him away.
Since USC is a private institution we do not know the contract details, but based on what we know, the Trojans now have one of the highest-paid head coaches, defensive coordinators, and general managers in all of college football.
The USC Trojans are clearly doing everything possible to get the program back to where it belongs. Now they just need to payoff the offseason moves with wins on the gridiron.