USC Trojans' Lincoln Riley, Chad Bowden Pushing to Sign Historic Recruiting Class

USC hosted its junior day in early February, which provided recruits their first opportunity to be around Bowden, who left Notre Dame in late January to join the Trojans staff. Since that event, USC has landed nine commitments, headlined by Lincoln-Way East (Ill.) four-star quarterback Jonas Williams, Richardson (Texas) four-star defensive lineman Jaimeon Winfield, Santa Margarita (Calif.) four-star EDGE Simote Katoanga and four-star receiver Trent Mosley and Corner Canyon (Calif.) four-star IOL Esun Tafa. 

They have also landed pledges from St. Francis (Calif.) three-star IOL John Fifita, St. Pius X (Calif.) three-star defensive lineman Malik Brooks, Cathedral Catholic (Calif.) three-star offensive tackle Chase Deniz and Fremont (Calif.) three-star EDGE Andrew Williams. 

The Trojans hold the most commitments in the country and Bowden has no intentions of slowing down with recruits attending practices this spring and official visit season fast approaching. 

“We’re going to sign the most high school kids in USC football history,” Bowden said. 

USC signed 29 recruits in the 2011 cycle and 28 recruits the in 2015 cycle.

The Trojans' potential program-altering 2026 class has been years in the making. They began building momentum all the way back in the fall of 2023 when they landed a trio of Southern California prospects in four-star cornerback Brandon Lockhart, three-star athlete Madden Riordan and three-star receiver Ja’Myron Baker. 

Lockhart and Riordan have been vocal about activity recruiting other prospects in the Trojans backyard to join them in Los Angeles.

USC landed four more big commitments before the end of the 2024 season in Gainesville (Ga.) five-star linebacker Xavier Griffin, Rancho Cucamonga (Calif.) four-star cornerback RJ Sermons, Mount Carmel (Ill.) four-star defensive lineman Braeden Jones and St. John Bosco (Calif.) three-star athlete Joshua Holland. 

Harvey (Ohio) four-star running back Shahn Alston announced his pledge to the Trojans during the Navy All-American bowl in early January. 

The Trojans staff has been relentless on the trail, making strong recruiting pitches to top prospects across the country. USC has established a strong recruiting footprint in the south and Midwest, but the Trojans continue to put an emphasis on prospects in their backyard as Bowden works to build a fence around the state in recruiting the way former USC coach Pete Carroll did during the program's heyday in the early 2000s. 

“I’ve said over and over again and I mean it, the best high school football in the country is played in California,” Bowden said. “That doesn’t mean we’re not going to go elsewhere, but the best football is played in California, especially in Southern California and we’re going to kill it in California as we already have and we got a couple more on the way this week that I’m excited about for you guys to see.”

Oaks Christian (Calif.) four-star running back Deshonne Redeaux is set to announce his college decision on Saturday and the Trojans have long been considered the favorites. Mater Dei (Calif.) four-star defensive lineman Tomuhini Topui de-committed from Oregon last week, and USC has become the new leader in the clubhouse. 

Topui is one of a handful of uncommitted recruiting targets from nearby Mater Dei, including five-star tight end Mark Bowman, four-star receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt and four-star linebacker Shaun Scott. Five-star receiver Chris Henry Jr. is committed to Ohio State and four-star offensive tackle Kodi Greene is committed to Oregon, but the Trojans remain in the mix.

Bowman, Scott and Greene each visited campus last month. Dixon-Wyatt and Henry Jr. were at Junior Day. With the exception of Scott, the other four Mater Dei prospects have locked in official visits in June. 

The Trojans had several top uncommitted prospects in the state visit campus last week, including Mount Miguel five-star cornerback Brandon Arrington, Folsom five-star quarterback Ryder Lyons and Orange Lutheran four-star IOL Samuel Utu. 

USC has two commits from Sierra Canyon, four more on the current roster and are in hot pursuit of two more in five-star EDGE Richard Wesley and five-star cornerback Havon Finney. The local prospects reclassified from the 2027 class to the 2026 in March, speeding up their recruitment. 

Mission Viejo (Calif.) four-star receiver and Georgia commit Vance Spafford is top flip target for the Trojans and so is St. John Bosco (Calif.) four-star receiver and Texas A&M commit Madden Williams.

Four-star linebacker Talanoa Ili recently transferred from Orange Lutheran (Calif.) to Kahuku (Hawaii). Ili has visited USC twice this calendar year, including once on Junior Day and the top-ranked player in Hawaii has an impressed by the time he spent on campus.

As Bowden previously mentioned, the Trojans are not limited themselves to just California. USC hosted Archbishop Hoban (Ohio) five-star cornerback Elbert Hill, Bishop Gorman (Nev.) four-star safety Jett Washington, Morgan Park (Ill.) four-star receiver Nasir Rankin and Temple (Texas) four-star EDGE Jamarion Carlton this past weekend.

The Trojans have assembled a personnel staff have done a great job of elevating USC's recruiting efforts.

“Dre Brown, who is our assistant GM is one of the best evaluators I think in the country, who we brought over from Illinois that worked with me at Notre Dame. He’s phenomenal, we have really great evaluators in our front office," said Bowden.