Lincoln Riley reveals what makes Caleb Williams such a strong fit for USC, his offense

Lincoln Riley pulled the coup of the offseason, convincing star quarterback Caleb Williams to follow him from Oklahoma to USC. In his 2022 National Signing Day Press Conference, Riley revealed what makes Williams such a strong fit at USC, and for his offense.

“He’s a talented player,” stated Riley. “I felt that from when I got to see him in high school. Felt like he had all the tools to really be a good player. And I think most importantly, he’s a confident young man.

“He works really hard at his craft. And he does a great job of bringing people together. He’s got a great feel for people, and a great feel for being a leader at a young age. So, he certainly was thrown into some unique situations as a true freshman for us last year, and handled them well.

“I think he’ll be a really positive member of this team. That’s the thing he’s most excited about right now. Just like to go to class, like to get with the guys, like to just kind of get back into the flow of being part of a team, part of a university. That’s what he loves to do. So, he’ll be a great addition to our quarterback room, and to our team.”

In his lone season at Oklahoma under Riley, Williams showed how special he can be. To illustrate, Williams completed 64.5% of his passes for 1,912 yards and 21 touchdowns for Oklahoma. Under Riley’s tutelage once again with the Trojans, the duo could make an immediate impact on the Pac-12.

Riley on recruiting Williams to USC: ‘It was just kind of like [a] long, lost friend.’

Furthermore, Lincoln Riley revealed what it was like recruiting Caleb Williams to USC.

“I don’t think we talked even one bit of football,” Riley said. “It was just kind of like [a] long, lost friend. It was good just to be able to re-connect. We kind of, I think, took it step by step. There were some things, certainly, that he knew about myself, about a lot of the members on our staff that he had a positive experience with.

“Then, obviously, there’s a lot of things new with a new program, a new city, a new university. And I think the biggest thing was making sure that this was going to be the right fit for us as a program, the right fit for him as far as his development as a player and for him as a student.

“I think the more we went through it, we had a chance to lay that all out and he and his family looked at the options and at the end of the day, felt like USC was going to be the best.”

Reunited and it feels so good, Lincoln Riley and Caleb Williams are ready to take college football by storm in 2022.