LOS ANGELES -- It took Lincoln Riley and Jen Cohen more than nine months to make the hire.

In early 2024, USC 's head coach and athletic director set out to find a general manager, eyeing a figure who could modernize the Trojans' front office operation for college football's money era.

They interviewed a vast pool of candidates, rising personnel stars across both the Power 4 and NFL ranks. Texas Tech general manager James Blanchard turned down the job. So did Alabama 's Courtney Morgan. So Riley and Cohen's search continued into the fall of 2024, dragging all the way through the program's 7-6 finish in Riley's third season in charge.

"We probably talked more about that [search] than any other single topic in the years that we've been here together," Riley told ESPN earlier this mo

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