Chad Bowden leaves Notre Dame for USC

Notre Dame will be looking for two crucial pieces to its staff just days into the offseason. Defensive coordinator Al Golden left for the Cincinnati Bengals, and general manager Chad Bowden has taken the same position at USC.

Bowden was promoted to GM last March after turning down a similar opportunity at Michigan under head coach Sherrone Moore.

It’s a surprise in a surprise sport, as Bowden had been Marcus Freeman’s right-hand man dating back to their time in Cincinnati.

Bowden’s rise through the ranks has been rapid. He started in a lowly role at Cincinnati before working his way up to become the Bearcats’ director of recruiting. When Freeman took the defensive coordinator job at Notre Dame, Bowden moved to South Bend to work as his assistant before becoming director of recruiting the next year.

Per John Brice of FootballScoop, Bowen made between $275,000-300,000 and is set to make $1 million annually.

The success on the personnel side of the sport shouldn’t be a surprise since his father, Jim, was the GM of the Cincinnati Reds for several years in the 90s.

“I think for me that’s why I’m who I am today,” Bowden told ISD in 2022. “My dad was brash, cocky, arrogant, but also really hardworking and understood talent, understood player staff, understood people .

“He was a great public figure in the city of Cincinnati. He was able to bring in Ken Griffey Jr. and I was a part of that. I was able to see that and could see him work day to day.”

Bowden’s departure will leave a huge hole at Notre Dame, as he was perhaps the most significant piece to the recruiting department. The 2024 Football Scoop GM of the Year was instrumental in Notre Dame landing impressive recruiting classes since 2023 and in pushing the boundaries of where the program could go with high school prospects and transfer portal targets.

There was no better example of Bowden’s impact when the Fighting Irish reached the College Football Playoff this season with a depleted roster as Notre Dame was without several key starters for the postseason.

Freeman will now have to work quickly to hire a general manager as it is an important time on the recruiting calendar, which includes Saturday’s junior day.

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