Caleb Williams sends clear message to transfer portal players considering USC

Caleb Williams, who transferred to USC from Oklahoma following the end of the 2021 season, had some advice to any players in the transfer portal wanting to join him and his teammates in southern California this offseason.

“10 weeks ago, this culture is not what it is now,” Williams said about USC. “Having these guys here, obviously we have guys coming in and having these guys here that have been working on this culture have been amazing. These [are] guys that we’re going to have to get to fill out our roster, because as we know, if you go look at the roster, we’re down a lot of players.”

The lack of roster depth is due to a combination of injuries and the fact that incoming players simply aren’t on campus yet. Despite this, Saturday’s spring game will be a traditional offense vs. defense, though head coach Lincoln Riley said earlier in the week that they’ll be cutting it close.

Williams is one of 13 incoming transfers for the Trojans this season. He joins Mario Williams, Shane Lee and Austin Jones as the headlines of the star-studded transfer group that is comprised of six former four-star recruits, though only two have suited up for spring practices.

“So these guys that are going to come in, they’re going to be welcomed, but they’re going to have to work,” Williams said. “They’re gonna have to kind of have to put their head down, they’re gonna have to be consistent and they’re gonna join along the brotherhood. That’s the only thing we can do when they come along. We can’t push them away. We can’t push them out anything like that or anything like that.

“We have to accept them. They have to accept our culture that we built and we’re going to truck along and go with a bunch of games.”

Check out Williams’ first appearance in a USC jersey along with the rest of the Trojans on Saturday at noon PT for their spring game. ESPN will carry the national broadcast for a USC team expected to have immediate success in 2022.

“I think the best experiences … are the fans are going to expect greatness out of us, and it’s rightful for us to expect greatness out of them,” Riley said. “And when there’s greatness on both sides, that’s when you get great football and great atmospheres – and that’s what makes college football so special. We know we’ve got to all rise up to get that done. We’re busting our tail to get our part done.”