In a move that seemed inevitable for quite a while, Caleb Williams transferred to USC in early February. While he had interest from schools such as UCLA and would have been welcomed back at Oklahoma, he opted to reunite with his former Sooners head coach, Lincoln Riley.
As Williams noted during USC spring practice earlier in the week, he much aspired to once again play under the coach who recruited him to Oklahoma.
“It was a big relief,” Williams said.
“Before I went to Oklahoma, I built such a good relationship with him and a bunch of people that came here, strength staff and other staff included. That was a big thing for me, it was not just coach Riley and him being here. Obviously, I love coach Riley and his family, but the rest of the family that came here was really big. It was a really big relief.”
Amid Spencer Rattler’s roller-coaster start to the year, Riley handed over the starting quarterback job to Williams last season at Oklahoma. Williams wound up playing in 11 games over his freshman campaign, which included recording 21 passing touchdowns and six rushing touchdowns.
Now at USC, Williams already has plenty of high expectations on his plate heading into the 2022 campaign. For one, Riley also bolstered the running back position after he brought in former Oregon Ducks star Travis Dye as a transfer addition.
Williams sure would like to add prestigious individual honors to his trophy cabinet, but in the big picture, he is eyeing grand team success at USC.
“Like I said, focus on leading these guys,” Williams said. “Those guys will get me to there. And I'm going to help those guys to get to our main goals, which is national championships and winning, going 1-0 every week. That is my main goal. I don't really focus on my own goals, obviously.
“I mean, who wouldn't want to have a Heisman? I mean who wouldn't? It's one of my goals, but not really the goal of the team. And that's what we're focused on here.”
A key 2022 season sure awaits both Williams and Riley.
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