USC Nearly Hired Highest Paid GM Before Chad Bowen Move

USC Nearly Hired Highest Paid GM Before Chad Bowen Move originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

Chad Bowen is one of the high-profile newcomers responsible for reigniting the USC Trojans on the recruiting trail. USC came close to hiring someone other than Bowen, however.

John Talty of CBS Sports mentioned the nation's best general managers ahead of the college football season. USC created the position and hired away Bowen from rival Notre Dame.

Tatly and CBS, however, mentioned how Lincoln Riley and USC didn't pursue only Bowen for the GM spot. USC tried luring in the highest paid GM before settling for the former Fighting Irish personnel man.

Courtney Morgan was on USC's GM radar ahead of the 2025 season. Morgan ultimately settled for Alabama ahead of 2024.

"Morgan was on the private plane with Kalen DeBoer when he arrived in Tuscaloosa for the first time. That speaks to the trust and closeness of their relationship. After USC tried to hire him, Morgan made national headlines when he became, at that time, the nation's highest-paid general manager with a three-year deal that averaged $825,000 a year," Talty wrote.

Morgan has become "the gold standard" for how CFB teams view GMs. They've played a new pivotal role for recruiting classes in the era of name, image and likeness (NIL) and the transfer portal. Morgan eventually put together the nation's No. 3 recruiting class in Tuscaloosa.

Morgan would've been kept on the west coast had he joined USC. He served in the GM role at Washington when DeBoer led the Huskies. He also held GM roles for Michigan (2021) and Fresno State (2020) -- the latter during a time DeBoer was head coach there.

Bowen, however, has impacted USC's recruiting efforts greatly. He's helped reemphasize local recruiting for the Trojans. Five-star tight end Mark Bowman signed his NIL deal to USC with Bowen facilitating the move. Bowman's verbal commitment and NIL agreement landed USC's latest star from Mater Dei High in Santa Ana.

Bowman's not the lone nearby prospect committed to USC. Bowen helped land fellow Mater Dei star Tomuhini Topui, Simote Katoanga of Rancho Santa Margarita Catholic, Katoanga's high school teammate Trent Mosley and cornerback Brandon Lockhart of Sierra Canyon.

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 30, 2025, where it first appeared.