USC head football coach Lincoln Riley had already made his determination to get the Trojans back into the College Football Playoff picture public.
The question was, how would they do it?
Seems that Riley and USC's athletic department had a plan all along. And it's finally coming to fruition now.
The very core of their strategy was high-school recruiting and instilling their culture in those recruits, as USC general manager Chad Bowden explained.
"The culture of what you’re building has to be through high school because you’ll have the opportunity to be with these kids for four or five years," Bowden told Rivals.
"That has to be the focus. We’re still going to go in the portal but it’s not going to be a huge emphasis. It’s going to be getting the right kids in high school. You can build a team around high school recruiting. You can build a culture around high school recruiting. Especially if the kids you bring in value what a USC degree can do for them, the coaches and the type of relationships and development we offer these young people.
"All the things USC offers these kids that they wanted just as bad as we wanted them and they’re here for all the right reasons, we can build a culture around that and we’re going to bring that in through high school. It’s going to be a massive focus in this next class."
As a result of their strategy, the Trojans have already brought in an eye-popping 20 commitments, whereas no other top 20 has been able to bring in more than 14. It is also the reason why the program established itself as the No. 1 recruiting class of 2026, a position previously held by Brian Kelly's LSU.
While recruiting remains Riley's top priority, he cannot overlook the fact that the number of wins has gone down under him throughout the years.
As excellent a culture as they build and as many commitments as they bring, the Trojans would still need regular season wins to get an entry in the College Football Playoff -- let alone a spot as a national championship contender.
As USC kicks off its 2025 season against Missouri State on August 30 at home, it will be interesting to see how well their talented recruiting class bodes.