When Lincoln Riley landed in L.A. back in 2021, USC was on life support. 4 wins, locker room vibes in the gutter, and a roster that barely looked like Power Five material. So he hit the transfer portal like it owed him money. Lincoln Riley low-key swore he didn’t need California kids to win. Straight up said something like this: “We took over a failing program and we saw a roster full of California kids, a lot of them that weren’t achieving or succeeding. And we can’t just pick from our backyard and expect to win.” Lincoln Riley was only focusing on big timers and portals. And to his credit, it worked — for a minute. Caleb Williams showed out, won the Heisman, and USC dropped 11 wins in year one.

But in 2023? The wheels came off. The team lost five of its last six, the defense was a punching bag, and that same portal-first strategy? Exposed.

After the 2024 season, Riley realized he’d been ghosting the wrong people. The St. John Boscos and Mater Deis of the world weren’t just top-tier high school programs — they were pipelines. And USC wasn’t tapping in. The word is; Lincoln Riley didn’t give squat about Cali high school coaches. In fact, by the numbers? In 2024, only eight of USC’s 23 signees were from California. Just five out of 24 in 2025. That’s criminal for a program parked in the most talent-rich state in the country. So what did Lincoln Riley do? Grabbed the best GM in the college football. Chad Bowden started working on in-state recruiting. Guess what? It worked perfectly.

On Max Browne’s YouTube show, the former USC QB’s Co-host laid it out: “Chad Bowden, the new GM, has come in and been so outspoken with a megaphone that we are going to prioritize Southern California in-state recruiting. This is the best place to recruit from—the talent’s so rich here. But neither he nor Lincoln will say this is a shift in strategy, even though it so clearly is.”

And the receipts don’t lie. USC’s 2026 class already has at least 16 commits from the Golden State out of 25. That’s more California heat than they’ve brought in the last two years combined. The Trojans are pulling top dudes like Shaun Scott out of Mater Dei, flipping Oregon DBs, and locking up trench monsters like five-star OT Keenyi Pepe. Even when a guy like Pepe transfers to IMG Academy, he’s still repping Long Beach and calling L.A. home. The USC has No.1 recruiting on 247Sports and On3. You look at the 2026 class, and it’s just loaded with position-of-need killers. DBs like R.J. Sermons and Brandon Lockhart? Ballhawks. Xavier Griffin from Georgia? SEC frame. Ohio lockdown corner Elbert Hill? Picked USC over Alabama. The class is tough, it’s fast, and most importantly? It’s balanced.

This new recruiting machine? It’s built like an NFL front office. Chad Bowden’s the shot caller now, that man never misses. Steph Curry of GM. Even Southern California high school coaches who used to say, “USC? We don’t even hear from them,” are now getting real love. USC is back outside, shopping locally, hugging every Cali coach in sight, and cooking up the best recruiting class in the country. All thanks to Chad Bowden.

Lincoln Riley’s biggest ops = play calling?

So now let’s get into the real elephant in the Coliseum: can Riley keep play-calling and win big, or is it finally time to give that up? Let’s be real: we haven’t seen a head coach win a natty while calling plays since Jimbo Fisher in 2013. That’s over a decade ago. Ryan Day tried it at Ohio State, but even he finally handed over the sticks to Chip Kelly. And look at how quickly that move got folks talking about playoff runs again.

In Oklahoma, Riley was the QB whisperer. Baker Mayfield. Kyler Murray. Jalen Hurts (People’s Heisman). Heisman after Heisman. But since he lost Caleb Williams? The sauce dried up. In 2024, USC averaged just 30.2 points per game — good for 51st nationally. That’s not awful… but it’s not Lincoln Riley’s caliber. And for a guy who used to have offenses averaging 48.4 points (at Sooners)? That’s a serious fall-off.

It wasn’t just the points. The play-calling looked… off. No balance. Dry offense. No deep shots. No rhythm. Riley and Miller Moss never looked in sync. The run game was M.I.A. and the offense felt like it was trying to cosplay as the 2018 Sooners and forgetting this ain’t the Big 12 no more. That’s where Luke Huard comes in. USC’s new offensive coordinator is smart, fresh, and hungry. If Riley lets Huard take the reins, it frees him up to do what modern head coaches have to do: manage culture, control the locker room, keep the defense right, and be the CEO. Riley already handed the defense over to D’Anton Lynn, and that’s a massive win. Letting Huard handle the offense? That could be the final chess move.

‘Cause make no mistake, if USC falls short again in 2025, fans won’t be asking questions. They’ll be demanding changes. And they won’t just be side-eyeing the playbook. They’ll be side-eyeing Riley. Giving up play-calling is like a rapper handing off the mic. It’s your identity. It’s what got you paid. But holding onto it too tight? That’s how you end up washed. Riley’s gotta choose. Stick with the same formula and risk being the next guy USC lets go, or evolve into the big-picture boss the program needs.

The talent is here now. The Cali kids are back. And the support system’s humming. The table is set. Now it’s on Lincoln Riley to decide: is he still trying to be the chef… or the one running the whole restaurant?