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USC coach Lincoln Riley, GM Chad Bowden tout ‘bright’ future with strong staff additions

February 6, 2025

LOS ANGELES — Perhaps Lincoln Riley’s brisket, back on that one Easter in 2021, was in fact overcooked. Three years later, the world still doubts his ability to man a grill, since the then-Oklahoma head coach posted an innocent picture on Twitter that’s been maligned ever since.

The world, however, has not seen Riley’s ability to sizzle a Balsamic steak. Chad Bowden has.

“Our relationship’s been great,” Bowden said, USC’s new general manager speaking to reporters for the first time on Wednesday. “Again – anytime you have Balsamic steaks that are phenomenal, you know what I mean … you have a pretty good relationship.”

When Bowden left Indiana for Los Angeles, after his hire away from Notre Dame two weeks ago, he did not find a hotel. He did not find an Airbnb. He has been staying in Riley’s guesthouse – his casita, as Bowden put it – at the USC head coach’s home in Palos Verdes Estates. For a week and a half, the two most important men in USC’s future have bonded over family, and shared visions of grandeur to come. And shared steak.

“A lot of things that he talked about with me as to why he chose to come with USC, they aligned with how I felt,” Bowden said. “And all we want to do is win this thing. We want to win that moment, and we know what moment that is. And we talked about how we’re going to do it.”

That moment, simply, is a national championship. It was a dream Riley pointed to, three years ago, standing atop the Coliseum in his introduction to USC. It’s a dream that’s been clouded, for three years, by steadily declining on-paper results. It’s a dream, now, that looks more real for USC than at any point since the fall of 2023.

For years, USC needed to rebuild its defense; Riley and company overhauled their staff, and re-signed DC whiz D’Anton Lynn to a contract extension, and somehow plucked Rob Ryan from the NFL ranks as USC’s linebackers coach. USC has plainly needed to regain momentum in local recruiting; Riley hired Chad Savage on the offensive staff, an ace Southern California recruiter at Colorado State. USC has known, too, it needed to restructure its front office; in came Bowden and a slew of personnel hires this offseason, part of a modernized front-office approach.

“I think it shows that we’re not content with any part of this program being average, or even being good,” Riley said Wednesday. “Like, that’s not our mentality. Like, any part of this program we’re evaluating on – is it at a national championship level? If it’s not, is it trending that way quickly?”

“And if it’s not, we need to fix it.”

His praise of his newest GM on Wednesday, in what Riley deemed a “partnership,” showed a notable willingness to delegate in the process of fixing it. He and Athletic Director Jen Cohen hired Bowden away from a College Football Playoff finalist in Notre Dame, Bowden telling reporters that USC simply “meant more to me.” And Bowden pitched him during their initial conversation, Riley reflected, on simplifying his role – handling the day-to-day intricacies of roster construction and recruiting, allowing USC’s head coach and staff to focus simply on coaching.

And Bowden steps in at USC at a pivotal moment for college football, with the dawn of athletic department revenue sharing and the sport’s increasing shift to a professional model. On Wednesday, Riley said the USC administration had set some “very aggressive goals” in NIL fundraising, and Cohen has said that the university will invest the full permissible $20.5 million in revenue sharing with athletes come 2025-26, while maximizing investment in football.

When asked Wednesday if he felt he would have the resources he wants to build a roster at USC, Bowden leaned into a microphone with a slight grin.

“Yes,” he answered, matter-of-fact.

Those specific resources are still somewhat up in the air, as the Department of Education might rule that revenue sharing payments must be divided equally between male and female athletes under Title IX. If President Donald Trump’s administration is successful in slashing the Department of Education, though, USC will likely be free to distribute that $20.5 million as it sees fit – as ESPN reported many schools are preparing to follow a model that would dole out around 75% of revenue sharing payments to football players.

Assuming USC would follow a similar model (roughly $15 million to football through revenue sharing), and factoring in previous Southern California News Group reporting that NIL collective House of Victory’s budget has grown upward of $12 million, Bowden and USC’s front office would likely have at least $25 million at their disposal for the 2025-26 season.

Regardless of their roster cap specifics, Bowden and Riley were aligned in their messaging on Wednesday: USC had built a staff and a front office as strong as any program in the country, both asserted.

“We got really good frickin’ players … the future for USC is so incredibly bright,” Bowden said.

“We’re going to make sure,” he continued, “this place reaches its full potential.”

Orange County Register

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USC coach Lincoln Riley, GM Chad Bowden tout ‘bright’ future with strong staff additions

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