Caleb Williams addresses future, possibility of staying two more years at USC

After winning the Heisman Trophy this season, USC quarterback Caleb Williams is generating plenty of excitement for his NFL future, despite not being eligible until the 2024 NFL Draft. Williams for sure has one more season at USC and then will be forced to make a decision on his future. As of now, Williams still does not know what his future holds.

“Don’t know yet,” Williams told reporters ahead of the Cotton Bowl. “We’ve got this game here in this beautiful stadium first. And then, that’ll be determined, probably, at the end of next year. Just because I do have a possibility of leaving or staying at that point. But right now, I don’t even have a possibility, so not thinking too heavily on that. Thinking really heavily on this Cotton Bowl and working really hard to be able to reach that end goal in January next year that we were not able to reach this year.”

A five-star recruit coming out of high school, Williams has lived up to the hype that has been surrounding him for his entire football career. Williams threw for nearly 2,000 yards as a freshman at Oklahoma in 2021 before then following head coach Lincoln Riley to USC for the 2022 season. Spending this year as the Trojans’ full-time starter, Williams took the country by storm.

Williams completed 66.1% of his passes this year for 4,075 yards, 37 touchdowns and just four interceptions. Williams also added 372 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground, helping lead USC to a special season. The Trojans went 11-1 in the regular season and then made the Pac-12 Championship. However, a 23-point loss in the title game ended USC’s hopes of a conference title and it then fell to a spot in the Cotton Bowl.

Williams ready to play in Cotton Bowl

Williams was recently battling a hamstring injury that had his status for the Cotton Bowl in doubt. The Trojans no doubt would have been in a tough spot had he missed the game but it appears that Williams will play. Riley explained more recently.

“He’s ready to play,” Riley said. “He has progressed maybe a little faster than what we anticipated. Certainly very fortunate on our part that we had the opportunity to have a month really before we had this game. I mean, had it been even two weeks, I doubt he would’ve been available. So that extra time has helped.

“He’s done a good job, along with our medical staff, from the second that the Pac-12 Championship Game was over, really working hard to get back to it. Practiced well, really with no limitations, and expect him to play very well.”

It’s not the College Football Playoff, but Williams and Riley can end their first season in Los Angeles on a positive note with a Cotton Bowl win. Then, the sky is the limit for the duo in 2023.

Steve Samra contributed to this report