USC has made sweeping changes to its recruiting department this offseason in the midst of building what has already become the No. 1 recruiting class for 2026 early in the cycle. Much of the group has been built with prospects who already call Southern California their home, and the plan the Trojans have is to continue building the program with players from around the area.

That shift in mindset only appears to be expanding under the guidance of new general manager Chad Bowden.

"We're gonna do everything through the city," he said Monday. "We're gonna do everything through the state. That's going to be our primary focus.That doesn't mean we're not going to dip into other states, because you have to, but I do a lot of research every place l've been, and something that we found, when national championships were won here and Rose Bowls were won here, you look back at Pete Carroll's classes '02, '03, '04, over 80 percent of the recruiting classes were from the state of California. History repeats itself. It always does. ...

"That was a key part of USC being on top. And my plan and my vision is to bring that back."

Real a full transcript of Chad Bowden's comments from Monday here!

Bowden spent the morning with local reporters discussing the outlook for the Trojans as they now move forward with a rebuilt recruiting department in what is expected to be a busy spring for Lincoln Riley's team.

Below, you can read some of the most important comments from Bowden during his sit-down meeting with reporters.

*** Full breakdown and story coming later today but you can chat with other Trojans fans about the comments made by Bowden by visiting the Trojan Talk message boards. ***