Ed Orgeron reveals Reggie Bush is the recruit of his career that stands out to him the most

Ed Oregon has recruited his fair share of superstars over the years. However, one player stands above the rest. During an appearance on Pardon My Take, the former USC associate head coach revealed Reggie Bush was the greatest recruiting success story of his career.

“There’s a lot of [players], but Reggie Bush,” Orgeron said. “Reggie was going to Notre Dame or Washington or something like that, but we didn’t have a good connection with him for some reason. And I was the recruiting coordinator. I wasn’t recruiting that area. I wasn’t recruiting a running back.

“I called his dad, ‘Hey, man, can I buy you a steak this weekend? You doing anything? Bring your wife. Bring Reggie. Come on, man. It’s just going to be us, Coach Carroll and the staff. Come spend the weekend with us.’ He said, ‘Coach, I’m coming.’ They came. It was just Reggie. What a great weekend.

“All of a sudden, we go to the Orange Bowl. We play Iowa, tough game. The Orange Bowl, we win. Me and Coach Carroll are working, we call the recruits right after the game. And Coach gets a call. He said, ‘Hey, it’s Reggie.’ He said, ‘Coach, I watched y’all play. I want to be a Trojan.’ Wow, just like that. And, he was one of the greatest players I’ve ever been around.”

Bush’s time at USC is stuff of legend. He played for the Trojans from 2003-05 and amassed 3,169 rushing yards, 1,301 receiving yards and 38 total touchdowns.

He was a two-time consensus All-American (2004, 2005) and two-time Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year. He also won the Doak Walker Award, Jim Brown Trophy and AP College Football Player of the Year Award in 2005.

Bush’s individual accolades translated to the win column for USC. The Trojans won back-to-back national titles under head coach Pete Carroll in 2003 and ’04.

Additionally, USC reached the national championship in 2005, but ultimately fell 41-38 to Texas in what many consider one of the greatest college football games of all time. Bush is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.

In June, CBS Sports released its Top 25 most dynamic college football players of the past 25 years. Bush topped the list.

“As much of a winner as he was an unstoppable threat, Bush was a two-time national champion, an All-American and Pac-10 Player of the Year as Pete Carroll and Matt Leinart’s ultimate go-to weapon,” CBS Sports’ Brad Crawford wrote. “Bush scored four times on special teams with the Trojans and nearly all of his career trips to the end zone were showstoppers. His stop-and-go play against Fresno State became an eventual video game move.”