Back then, they all called Bowden “GM.”

Perhaps, on the surface, it was a unique moniker for a 20-something kid just a couple of years removed from college life and a GA job. But Eliano quickly found it was an unofficial title of respect, given to a football mind and a recruiter who Eliano called “relentless.”

For one junior day, at Cincinnati, Bowden and his team dressed up as “Men in Black” agents, complete with shades and black tie. They hosted one player on a visit who had nicknamed himself the “Slim Reaper,” and so a member of Bowden’s team wore a Grim Reaper mask to greet him. When coaches would assemble in the office on Monday or Tuesday nights to call recruits, Bowden and the recruiting staff would burst in and pass out shots of energy drink.

“As I got around, I was like, ‘Okay, this fits,’” said Eliano, who was then Cincinnati’s cornerbacks coach. “‘He is the general manager, around here.’”

Five years later, as Bowden has officially stepped into that GM title, first with College Football Playoff finalist Notre Dame and now USC, his role has expanded far beyond recruiting strategy. This is the era of borderline professionalization of college football, where USC athletic director Jen Cohen has confirmed the athletic department will invest the full $20.5 million permitted by the House v. NCAA settlement into revenue sharing with athletes. It will be Bowden’s job, among others, to construct, manage and negotiate with USC’s roster, with the resources he’s afforded by both the university and third-party NIL collective House of Victory.

And in the span of exactly 11 days since Bowden’s hire on Jan. 24, he and USC have completely redesigned a new-era personnel staff, as blue-blood programs are increasingly turning toward building NFL-style front offices. The Trojans have hired Zaire Turner, who worked with Bowden as Notre Dame’s director of player personnel, in a recruiting operations role. They’ve hired former Illinois player personnel director Dre Brown as an “executive director of scouting and personnel.” And Tuesday brought another behind-the-scenes bombshell, as Bowden has pried away Wisconsin GM Max Steinecker to work with him in a front-office role at USC, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to the Southern California News Group.

“It seems,” Steinecker told the SCNG, “like Chad is forming a little bit of a super-team.”

When news first circled in early January that USC was targeting a GM, one agent told the SCNG it was a “move they needed to make.” A source with knowledge of the situation, too, once said USC had known for months it needed to change its personnel infrastructure. And sweeping changes have suddenly come to a staff that – despite securing three straight top-20 recruiting classes under head coach Lincoln Riley – hasn’t quite been able to go toe-to-toe with programs like Oregon or Ohio State.

“I knew immediately, when USC hired Chad, that I knew what he was going for,” Steinecker said, as multiple sources have reported Bowden’s deal with USC is worth more than $1 million annually. “And I knew the amount that they were investing in him obviously showed that they were ready to continue to press and invest in this landscape of college football, which is really exciting for us.”

Steinecker’s hire, in particular, is a significant move, as he called it “incredibly challenging” to leave a top-tier role at Wisconsin and relationship with head coach Luke Fickell. But Steinecker has been tight with Bowden since both were assistants at Cincinnati, growing to lead recruiting efforts for a program that went 13-1 and made the CFP in 2021.

When COVID-19 hit and recruits were restricted from on-campus visits, Cincinnati’s staff came up with a gameday effort that Steinecker dubbed “Sin City Pride Corner,” the brainchild of Bowden. The Bearcats would set up two large televisions in the corner of the end zone during pre-game warm-ups, roll out a mock red-carpet, and go live on Instagram. Bowden, then, would dress in a full tuxedo and pull coaches on their way back to the locker room to speak directly to recruits watching their broadcasts.

“He’s a menace, and a lunatic, in the right way,” Steinecker said of Bowden, “in that he’ll take whatever it takes to get the job done.”

The job is complex at USC, and comes with plenty of pressure, after back-to-back seasons that haven’t gone according to plan. Between two years of defensive staff and personnel overhaul, though, Cohen and Riley have poured significant resources into improving USC’s infrastructure – and Bowden and his staff will be as important as any as the program tries to turn a corner.

“You couple him with all the things that USC has going,” Steinecker said of Bowden, “I think you’ve got the opportunity to go push for a national championship.”

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