;A failed play, a meaningless scrimmage, a 15-year-old with curiosity-filled eyes, and a tackle that ended it all. This was the story of Lincoln Riley, a young quarterback who also played as a defensive back and who jumped onto a tackle in his high school practice and dislocated his throwing arm. It really hampered Riley’s ability to play the QB position. He recalled to ESPN, “I was never the same thrower after that.” The QB dream might have ended as his college career was short-lived, but the injury was the best thing that could have happened to Riley.
Riley quickly made the transition as an assistant in Texas Tech’s setup and meticulously rose through its ranks before becoming the OC of East Carolina and producing a top-15 offense in the country. That ultimately took him to Oklahoma under Bob Stoops, and there he produced 2 Heisman Trophy winners in Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray and a Heisman finalist in Jalen Hurts. So far, the current USC head coach has produced three Heisman-winning QBs, with the third coming from Caleb Williams’ heroics in the 2022 season at USC. No wonder Riley’s ‘arm injury’ gave us the best QB developer in football.
Chad Bowden, the current general manager of USC Football, also had some things to say about Riley’s QB heroics. The GM was asked, “What’s one thing you’ve learned from Lincoln Riley so far just being around him?” Bowden didn’t even think for a second and started describing Riley’s exploits and the influence the head coach had on him.
“Gosh, he is the best quarterback evaluator. He’s one of the best dads and best recruiters I’ve ever been around, and he’s a phenomenal human being….I mean, it’s been unbelievable watching him work, obviously, as an evaluator, recruiter, and father. There’s not one thing that Lincoln Riley doesn’t bring to the table.” Bowden’s claim is quite accurate, too.
The former Sooners’ head coach is undoubtedly one of the best recruiters in the business. But more than that, the people he surrounds himself with are some of the best in the business. Take, for example, his two recruiting maestros, the DL coach Eric Henderson and secondary coach Doug Belk. These two guys have miraculously transformed recruiting at USC. Belk has so far recruited several high-level recruits, like 4-star DB RJ Sermons or highly talented prospects like Madden Riordan and Joshua Holland. Henderson is also in a whole different league.
The recruitment of players like Simote Katoanga or Jaimeon Winfield is a credit to Henderson’s recruitment. Moreover, the coach has so far led the recruitment of USC’s five top commits in the 2026 class and also reeled in the highly talented five-star prodigy Xavier Griffin. This tells you the level of recruitment that is currently going on at USC. Both Henderson and Belk are currently rated as the No. 1 and No. 2 recruiters in the country and have produced a 2nd ranked 2026 class with a whopping 22 commits.
Chad Bowden opens up on his ‘painful’ time before coming to USC
Chad Bowden came from Notre Dame to USC on a bumper paycheck that would guarantee him more than $1 million per year. But behind all those glitters and green lies a harsh reality that Chad Bowden faced, as he opened up recently about how it wasn’t “easy“ moving away from Marcus Freeman.
“I didn’t handle it well either when I left Coach Freeman to come here; I knew how to handle it the right way, which was always the hardest thing. I view him (Marcus Freeman) as a big brother and a best friend. But at some point, we weren’t always going to be together. Notre Dame did everything they could to keep me there. USC meant more to me. When I was a kid, I watched Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush — that was my team… USC kind of held something in my heart.”
The now USC GM was with Marcus Freeman since his Cincinnati days. The bond was so deep that when Freeman accepted the Notre Dame job, Chad Bowden came along. The GM even had to reject an offer by Luke Fickell, the Cincinnati head coach at the time. Bowden described the feeling as “the hardest decision of my life.” So, imagine how hard it would have been for Bowden to come to USC, leaving a relationship he built over several years. However, now that he is at USC, the responsibilities become more nuanced, as Riley will be looking for redemption this season after finishing 7-6 last season and 8-5 a season before that.
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