As a teenager Chad Bowden’s father, Jim, essentially immersed his kid into a PhD-level education on general managing. Jim Bowden was the general manager of the Cincinnati Reds when Chad was growing up and the father essentially gave the son an all-access pass to nearly every negotiation, locker room mediation, confrontation, trade talk and salary negotiation Jim had. Obviously there was some time where Chad had to be in school, but other than that it’s clear the foundation of his mindset and knowledge base as USC football’s general manager came from his upbringing.
The Reds of course play baseball while USC plays football, but Bowden said more than he meant to when he joked about his dad’s willingness to opine on Chad’s moves as the Trojan general manager.
“My dad, he doesn’t know anything about football, but he’ll chime in,” Bowden said Monday. “He’ll chime in. And sometimes I’ll run things by him, too. Whether I’m frustrated with an agent or I’m frustrated with something going on, I’ll talk to him and he’ll give me some advice.”
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“Frustrated with an agent.”
We talked about how Bowden’s normal did not align with the previous experience of the vast majority of USC football fans. Bowden illustrated his dynamic with his general manager dad with the most basic and common example of general manager frustration in professional sports, and that’s the key.
It doesn’t take long to understand Bowden views himself as the general manager for a professional sports franchise no matter how much he references admissions and academics. This is a good thing for USC. It suggests USC’s leadership has not only acknowledged what’s already arrived in terms of protocols for competing in today’s game, but what’s coming.
Need more evidence? Bowden dropped another tantalizing quote when he teased USC’s evolving look at revenue sharing. Again, it sounded like the status quo for a professional sports organization, but keep in mind college football is still a de facto pro sport and not a legislated one just yet.
“There are a lot of things that we are looking at in regards to rev share, and we are not going to be slowed down in any way,” Bowden said. “And the dedication Jen [Cohen] has towards this football program is unbelievable. There are things that we are going to do that I’m not disclosing at this table, that people will be playing catch up.”
Bowden didn’t let the cat out of the bag, but we can certainly hear the purring.
“As part of the House v. NCAA proposed settlement, schools will be allowed to share athletic department revenues with their varsity athletes beginning in 2025. While not finalized, under the proposed revenue sharing model, NCAA I schools will be allowed to directly make payments to their athletes up to a tentative annual revenue sharing cap of $ 20.5 million per school. The cap is estimated to grow to around $30 million per year over the next ten years.”
That’s from nil-ncaa.com and essentially sums up the present state of affairs. However, Bowden implied USC has already gamed out not just what it intends to do in 2025 but also what it intends to do in the future. Imagine the Trojans not just keeping pace but actually setting the pace in terms of player compensation. Bowden alluded it’s USC’s intent to do so.
We know USC, the NCAA and the Pac-12 are parties to an ongoing lawsuit from the National Labor Relations Board to establish football and men’s and women’s basketball players as university employees. USC can’t get too far out on its skis for multiple reasons. First, the Trojans are an actual participant in the litigation. Second, unionization and professionalization are not yet codified. However, Bowden’s statements made it clear USC intends to be prepared for what’s coming down the pike and odds are it’s going to end with USC football being every bit as professional as Jim Bowden’s Reds.
Imagine USC managing the player compensation space commensurate with how the Los Angeles Dodgers manage it in Major League Baseball. Everything would still be susceptible to scale, but think about it. USC flexing all its leverage and resources in a focused, professionalized manner. In such a world, there’d be little arguing with Bowden’s assessment of the school’s potential in football.
“I always felt like USC was the sleeping giant of college football,” Bowden said. “I remember always thinking, if I ever got that opportunity, deep down, I’d want to take it, because I know what this place can do.
“It’s the recruiting landscape. It’s the state of California. It’s the city of Los Angeles, the greatest city in the United States. It’s the City of Angels. And when USC football is at its highest, there’s nothing better for college football. There’s nothing better in the city. There’s nothing better going on across the country than when USC football is at its peak.”
Trojan fans have been teased with the “sleeping giant” line before. The difference is it didn’t come from a forward thinker like Bowden, and it certainly didn’t come at a time when USC’s leadership was as galvanized and focused on the professional realities imposing their will on college football.
Change is coming, and it finally sounds as if USC is ready for it.
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