Lincoln Riley details how Caleb Williams deals with more expectations in 2023

Caleb Williams soared to the top of college football last year with a Heisman Trophy. But Lincoln Riley detailed how his quarterback has to deal with more expectations this coming season for USC.

Williams could very well win it again, although experts said the same thing about Alabama’s Bryce Young. But Riley and Williams have bigger goals in mind, like a national championship after falling short of the playoff in 2022.

Riley discussed the lofty expectations on The Herd with Colin Cowherd.

“I mean with the success and I think it puts it back on Caleb on the staff here myself, all of us that setup around him to continue to educate him and get him ready because you’re right, this is going to be a different challenge,” Riley said. “He’s been a high profile player as a recruit and then playing that first year at Oklahoma. But it’s a totally different animal after the year we had and when you win a Heisman, it changes things. And it’s been a little bit of a new experience for me too, because other guys that we’ve had that have wanted, obviously, those were their final seasons with us. And so we’ve spent a lot of time on it. 

“We really have tried to be very deliberate and intentional about, you know, educating him, putting him in the right situations, making sure that we’re doing our part for him to allow him to continue to improve and that’s what he’s got to do.”

Williams went off last season with a full slate of starts. He had 4,537 yards, 42 touchdowns, five interceptions, a 66.6% completion percentage, 382 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns.

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“He’s got to continue to improve,” Riley said. “You certainly want to embrace something like that. But I think for him and for all of us, the Heisman is over. All that was last year. That’s great. And we’re glad, it was a great start for the program.

“It’s a great year for him individually, but we’re onto bigger and better things and we’ve tried to keep the momentum there. We’ve tried to keep the focus there and really try to support him because there’s a lot of attention right now.”