Former USC football star Matt Leinart shared his approval on social media of the school getting another top recruit.
Matt Leinart Applauds as USC Lands Nation’s No. 1 Recruiting Class and Reignites SoCal Pipeline
The University of Southern California is bolstering their 2026 class, nabbing the number one spot on the ranking of college football programs issued by On3. Their recruiting score stands at 94.026, which gave Heisman Trophy winner and alum Matt Leinart cause to celebrate in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
@uscfb #1 recruiting class for 2026 and starting to own So Cal. That’s what I’m talking about.
— Matt Leinart (@MattLeinartQB) June 4, 2025
The 2026 recruitment class currently has 27 commits, including one five-star recruit in Mater Dei tight end Mark Bowman and 16 four-star recruits (including offensive lineman Keenyi Pepe and cornerback Elbert Hill) by head coach Lincoln Riley and his staff, including general manager Chad Bowden, who was brought in after last season.
Bowman’s decision to come to USC came after some heavy recruiting, according to Sports Illustrated, including lengthy discussions with Riley about how he would utilize the 6-foot-4, 222-pound player in his offense. It also re-established the pipeline with Mater Dei; USC hadn’t had a recruit commit to that school since Riley’s first year in 2022 before Bowman.
Leinart’s enthusiasm is a good sign that Riley and the Trojans are heading in the right direction, planning to heavily compete for championships like he did during his days with Reggie Bush and other skilled players in the early 2000s.
“I know our expectations as a staff and at this place are as high as they get,” Riley said to On3 writer Pete Nakos. “You’re just trying to push things along as much as possible. At that point, I was confident and excited about some of the changes that we had made and some of the progress that we had made. They’re still going to continually be decisions that we have to make, moves that we have to make to continue to elevate this program.”
KEEP READING: USC Trojans, Whose Staff Features 4 of College Football’s Best Recruiters, Continue Massive 2026 Push
Given how this 2026 class has turned out so far, with some believing they can improve in 2027, USC might be making some noise when it comes down to the College Football Playoff.
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