Former Notre Dame GM Chad Bowden breaks down his reasons for bolting to archrival USC

Posted by author February 6, 2025 Football

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Chad Bowden, USC’s new football general manager, left Notre Dame for personal and professional reasons.
Bowden was drawn to USC’s legacy and believes in the program’s potential for success under coach Lincoln Riley.
Notre Dame made efforts to retain Bowden, but USC’s offer, reportedly a seven-figure salary and significant resources, proved more enticing.
This move marks Bowden’s first time working in college football without Marcus Freeman, his longtime colleague and former Notre Dame head coach.

SOUTH BEND — Chad Bowden, newly installed as USC’s football general manager, shed light Wednesday on his decision to leave Notre Dame after four seasons and a runner-up finish in the recent College Football Playoff.

“Notre Dame did everything they could to keep me there,” Bowden said at the Trojans’ National Signing Day news conference in Los Angeles. “USC, for me, it meant more to me. When I was a kid, I watched Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush — that was my team. … USC kind of held something in my heart.”

Bowden, 31, was able to say no to Michigan when it tried to hire him last offseason after winning a national title.

This time around, the Trojans closed the deal with a reported seven-figure annual salary, a multiyear deal and an open checkbook that has allowed Bowden to raid the recruiting offices at Notre Dame (player personnel director Zaire Turner), Illinois (Dre Brown, his former Irish assistant) and Wisconsin (Max Steinecker).

After thanking Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman and athletic director Pete Bevacqua in his opening statement, Bowden made it clear he saw “incredibly bright” days ahead for a Trojans program that has gone 9-11 under coach Lincoln Riley since winning its first six games in 2023.

“I thought coming here I could have the type of success I want to have, and I could be able to sustain it,” Bowden said. “That’s a big reason why I chose USC.”

This is the first time Bowden has worked for a college football program without Freeman on staff. Their association dates to 2017 at Cincinnati, when Freeman was a defensive coordinator and Bowden a student intern in the Bearcats’ recruiting office.

When Freeman left for Notre Dame in early 2021, he brought Bowden to South Bend as a recruiting director for defense.

For the past 10 days or so, Bowden has been living in Riley’s guesthouse, enjoying the coach’s signature “Balsamic Mickey Mantle steaks” off the grill and making plans for a warmer future.

“This is the happiest I’ve been in a very long time,” Bowden said, sharing a recent comment he made to his wife, Ava.

Bowden’s hiring was made official on Jan. 24, four days after Notre Dame lost to Ohio State in the CFP title game in Atlanta.

Asked for clarity on the recruiting process that brought him west, Bowden demurred.

“I don’t want to get into what the timeline really looked like,” he said. “All I know is as soon as we started having the conversations, it was an aggressive, attacking mindset on behalf of (USC AD Jen Cohen) and Lincoln. It was the place to be. I knew it was the place to be. That’s why I chose USC.”

Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.