Everything former Notre Dame GM Chad Bowden said in USC introductory press conference

Former Notre Dame general manager Chad Bowden, who left for USC for the same job less than two weeks ago, spoke at his introductory press conference with the Trojans on Wednesday. Here is everything he said.

Opening statement

“Before we get going an open it up to questions I want to thank the University of Notre Dame, Marcus Freeman and Pete Bevacqua for my time there. It was obviously a great experience there. I’d also like to thank USC, Jenn Cohen and Coach Riley. It’s a blessing to be here. I’m grateful for this opportunity. I’m excited to get to work.”

On what it’s been like transitioning from Notre Dame so far

“It’s been awesome. As soon as I touched down here, it was kind of cool, I’ve been able to stay at Coach Riley’s house over the last week and a half. At his casita, it’s been a really great experience. I’ve been able to have some of his steaks. His balsamic, Mickey Mantle steaks he makes, which has been a really cool experience. To spend time with him, his wife, his two daughters, the transition’s been great. Me and my wife, I told her the other today, this is the happiest I’ve been in a very long time. I’m just excited to get to work here.”

On what his job looks like

“I think everyone is going to have their take on what it should be. I’m a collaborative guy. Everything that we’re going to do here is going to be all together as one. Roles and responsibilities, I like to think that we’re all in this thing together. We’re all in this to make USC the best football program it can be. I hope to help USC reach its full potential, which is bringing USC a national championship, its 12th national championship here.”

On why he left Notre Dame for USC and what the offer was

“Notre Dame did everything they could to keep me there. USC, for me, it meant more to me. When I was a kid, I watched Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush. That was my team. Lendale White. [Dwayne] Jarrett. All of those guys. USC kind of held something in my heart. I think it’s the greatest city in the United States of America, Los Angeles. I think it’s the city of opportunity. I think USC and the type of degree that young people can get as far as the connections, the network, can truly set them up for the rest of their lives. And I thought coming here, I could have the type of success that I want to have and I can be able to sustain it, and it’s a big reason why I chose USC.”

On how quickly he moved from USC to Notre Dame

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

On his roster building philosophy

“A lot of it is probably going to be in this upcoming class. We’re going to major in high school and minor in the portal. And we’re going to be aggressive and we’re going to attack. Our business has changed. Every single day something could change. We’re going to be on offense every single day, and we’re going to attack it. And we’re going to attack it through high school, we’re going to attack it through the state of California — it’s the best high school football in America is played in California. And we’re going to do everything we can to get the best players in California to stay here and play for USC.”

On his relationship with Riley

“Me and Lincoln have a great relationship. We really hit it off right off the bat. A lot of the things he talked about with me as to why he chose to come to USC, they aligned with how I felt. All we want to do is win this thing. We want to win that moment. We know what moment that is. We talked about how we’re going to do it. It’s not what you do, it’s how you do it. We both share — Coach Riley, Jenn — there’s an alignment. There’s synergy within how we’re going to approach this thing and how we’re going to attack it. Everything kind of aligned with how we were talking. Our relationships are great. Any time you have balsamic steaks and they’re phenomenal and you’re at Coach’s Riley’s house, staying in his guest house, you have a pretty good relationship.”

On why he believes in majoring in high school and minoring in the portal

“It’s just the culture. It’s just the culture. It’s all about culture and the things that you can do within a recruiting process; the earlier you get them and have them committed, you’re already building your culture. And when you have that and you can acquire that in high school, you have those years with the player and the family, because you’re not just recruiting a kid anymore, you’re recruiting a family. Once you have them in your class and they sign here and you got three, four, five years with them, that’s how you build a culture of a program and that’s why that’s going to be our emphasis.”

On how he got into this line of coaching

“I grew up, my dad was the general manager of the Cincinnati Reds and the Washington Nationals. So I grew up in it. I watched him every day do it, interact with coaches, interact with players, interact with the ownership and everything that came with it. It was natural to me. It was something I really wanted to do. Now, I learned a lot when I was younger. I remember I was in my dad’s office and I hear him complaining about Felipe Lopez not running out to first base and I went down — I didn’t know any better — I went down to the locker room and said, ‘You need to run to first base.’ And he put me in a garbage can. So sometimes you got to watch how you play things.

“But it was always what I wanted to do. I didn’t know college football was going to come to this. I didn’t know it was going to be this title. I never asked for the title. I just wanted to help a team win. If you’ve ever been around me, all I want to do is win and have it be a team. Not just me, but have it be a team effort and everybody achieving, everyone reaching their full potential. That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do in my life. It’s never been about trying to reach being a GM. I just want to win a national championship.”

On USC’s roster

“It’s an incredibly talented roster. I really like the guys. I think they’ve done a phenomenal job in recruiting. I really like the roster that’s here. All we’re trying to do is enhance it. And I really look forward to the future and I look forward helping this roster and helping the coaches and the administration of USC to get to where it’s supposed to go.”

On ‘out of the box’ recruiting strategies with Riley

“We’ve talked about him jumping out of a helicopter. I don’t know if he’s going to do it yet. No, I’m just kidding. Look, we’ll do whatever it takes when it comes to recruiting. If it makes sense, we’re going to do it. Coach Riley is up for anything. All of the coaches are up for anything. You guys will soon meet Rob Ryan. We might have him hop out on a parachute. I don’t know. We’re going to come up with some really creative ideas for recruiting. Whatever it takes for us to get the very best players in the country, we’re going to do it.”

On NIL and revenue sharing

“I don’t really want to disclose what we’re going to do in regards to NIL and the roster. All I know is we have a plan. We’re going to attack it. We’re going to have a mindset of attacking. Like I said previously, this business is changing every day. Some things are not in place yet. You never know what’s going to happen. We could wake up tomorrow and — everything that could potentially happen, it’s an uncertain future. All I care about is what we can do today. When business changes, we’re going to be in attack mode. We’re going to be on offense every time.”

On how his GM role will evolve

“I think the role has so many different things in it. Recruiting, NIL, personnel, working with coaches. I don’t know what the next step is going to be. I don’t know what the future holds. I don’t know how it’s going to evolve. I know we’re going to be prepared for it and have a plan for it.”

On his pitch to the administration for what he wants USC to be

“It’s USC. It’s the place to be. It really is. We’re going to recruit that way. Everything that USC stands for and offers young people, from the educational standpoint, the degree, the connections, the network, the marketability in the greatest city in the country, this is the place to be. That’s going to be our messaging to every recruit. There is not one thing that LA and what USC — it covers every base that a young person could want. That’s going to be our big pitch, and that’s all of us. That’s every coach, every player, everyone in the administration. We’re all in it together. And it’s the place to be.”

On being aggressive with NIL and having the resources necessary to win at USC

“Yes.”

On his staff at USC

“You are who you surround yourself with. I’m a big believer in that. That’s my mom’s biggest motto; who you’re around every single day, that’s who you become. We’re hiring the very best across the country. You want to be around the very best. I want to be around the very best. I want to make sure this program is being pushed in every avenue and there is not a day, there is not a moment where you can be lax. I want to make sure we’re pushing this program in every avenue, and that’s why we’re going to continue o hire the very best in the country. And it’s not just in the front office. Look at what Jenn and Coach Riley have done in regards to the coaching staff. We have freaking Rob Ryan on our staff. We have coach [D’Anton] Lynn on our staff. We got the best staff in the country. We have the best front office in the country. We got really good freaking players. I’m just excited to get to work. The future for USC is so incredibly bright. We’re going to make sure this place reaches its full potential. It’s going to take every day, it’s going to take being around the right people, and that’s what we’re doing.”