USC is feeling pretty good these days.
How could the Trojans not?
On Thursday, pictures surfaced on social media of five-star freshman defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart working out with Hall of Famer Aaron Donald. On Friday, the Trojans flexed again in a big way by beating Georgia and many others for arguably the best tight end in the 2026 class in Mark Bowman.
MORE: Bowman to USC
CLASS OF 2026 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State
CLASS OF 2027 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State
TRANSFER PORTAL: Full coverage | Player ranking | Team ranking | Transfer search | Transfer Tracker
RIVALS CAMP SERIES: Rivals Five-Star heading back to Indy | Rivals Five-Star roster | Schedule/info
Minutes before Bowman’s commitment to USC was announced, the USC Football X page put out a meme of Ron Burgundy from "Anchorman" jumping in the pool. Was that a tip of the hat to Oregon coach Dan Lanning cannon-balling with five-star DE Richard Wesley during a visit only to see Wesley decommit 17 days later since his pledge wasn’t cleared with his family? A low-key flex by the Trojans?
Two weeks ago at the Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei Showcase, Bowman made no secret of where his recruitment stood: Georgia was the team to beat.
The four-star tight end had a great relationship with position coach Todd Hartley. He had total respect for how Georgia has dominated college football and it reminded him of the situation he’s in at Mater Dei.
The Brock Bowers comparisons did not hurt.
But USC never gave up. Never gave up recruiting him, never gave up selling him on potentially being the next Mark Andrews in Lincoln Riley’s offense and never gave up putting together a lucrative NIL package.
Georgia’s NIL strategy in recruiting is different than a lot of other programs, often to its detriment.
Coach Kirby Smart bellyached this week at the SEC spring meetings that schools are paying current commits upward of $20,000 to stay committed. That’s before their real NIL kicks in once they get to campus. He didn't name names, but he didn't really have to.
The Bulldogs just lost out on five-star offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell to Miami as the Nixa, Mo., standout hired super-agent Drew Rosenhaus to handle his NIL, rumored to be in the $2 million range.
Last recruiting cycle, Georgia lost out to Texas late when the Longhorns paid handsomely for five-star defensive lineman Justus Terry, an in-state kid who at one point was committed to the Bulldogs and it looked like he was going to re-commit on signing day.
The pitch from Georgia to Bowman was clear: We’re bringing in four-star Lincoln Keyes, we’re going after four-star Kaiden Prothro and we want you to be the centerpiece of it all on the offensive side.
Look at the track record: Georgia throws to its tight ends. Georgia puts tight ends into the NFL with seven on NFL rosters currently.
But it was not enough as Bowman picked the Trojans.
USC has the No. 1 class in the country by far. That will even out a little as other teams catch up since the Trojans also have 10 more commitments than any other team in the country.
Bowman is a massive piece for USC, maybe its biggest piece yet. And beating Georgia, Texas, Ole Miss and Oregon for him has the Trojans flexing big time.
