USC officially announces Max Stienecker as executive director of player personnel
Another of USC’s major offseason personnel moves was finalized Thursday as the Trojans officially announced the addition of Max Stienecker as the new executive director of player personnel.
“We’re excited to welcome Max Stienecker to USC,” head coach Lincoln Riley said in a statement. “He’s an outstanding football executive with strong experience to bring to our program. His recruiting skills and knowledge of the college football landscape will be an asset to our personnel team, which I believe is going to be the best in the nation.”
Stienecker comes to USC from Wisconsin, where he helped put together the last two impressive classes for the Badgers. The 2024 recruiting class for Wisconsin finished as the No. 22 group in the country, up from No. 46 in 2021. Three of the top four signees in that class were four-star offensive and defensive linemen. Stienecker helped the Badgers to a No. 27 class ranking in this 2025 class. That group was led by a top four that included four-star edge Nicolas Clayton, four-star linebacker Mason Posa, four-star defensive lineman Jaylen Williams and four-star offensive lineman Hardy Watts.
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He began his career at Cincinnati as a student assistant in 2018 before moving into a full-time director of on-campus recruiting role prior to the 2021 season. He and USC General Manager Chad Bowden overlapped at Cincinnati. Stienecker has been a name to know in this space for several years as he was listed on On3’s 2022 Rising Star Personnel Staffers You Need to Know. Stienecker became the youngest director of player personnel at a Power 5 school at Wisconsin in 2023 and then became the youngest General Manager in Power 4 football when he was elevated to that position in 2024.
USC also announced a shift in title for Dre Brown, who joined the Trojans from Illinois as Executive Director of Scouting and Personnel. Brown is now the Assistant General Manager.
