Lincoln Riley shares why Caleb Williams was right move at QB for USC

USC head coach Lincoln Riley took the college football world by storm last season, first by leaving Oklahoma in favor of Southern California, and again when he pulled a number of former Oklahoma commits and players — notably, quarterback Caleb Williams — along with him.

Williams, a native of Washington, DC, was by far and away the No. 1-ranked quarterback recruit in the NCAA Transfer Portal this season, and Riley has put together quite a high-powered offense at USC, using the portal alone. But his reasoning for nabbing Williams was more than their connection alone. Riley believes that it was the perfect fit at USC.

“We thought he would just make sense in this situation. I don’t think there’s any doubt we felt like the combination of him and Miller Moss would give us just a great start there in the quarterback room,” Riley said. “We’ve been really impressed with how those guys have handled things up to this point. Caleb obviously has some experience within our system, our terminology, our way of doing things, our way of coaching the position that certainly helps. And he has some good playing experience as well.”

Williams began his true freshman season at Oklahoma as the backup quarterback to Spencer Rattler. When Rattler struggled to start the season, however, Williams took the reigns of the offense, providing that valuable playing experience that Riley noted. After a couple of appearances in mop up duty, Williams saw his first significant playing time in the Red River Rivalry against Texas. He led the Sooners back from 21 points down — the largest comeback in the rivalry’s history — to claim a 55-48 victory. That was just the beginning of what would be an impressive season.

“At the end of the day, whether it’s a staff member or it’s Caleb, whether it’s Shane Lee, whether it’s any of these guys, they have to fit the criteria. At the end of the day, Caleb really wanted to be at USC, and this is where he’s at. We’re certainly glad that he’s here with us. We certainly think he’ll be a big part of this team moving forward.”

Williams was a five-star recruit coming out of high school, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He finished the season with 1,912 passing yards, holding a 64.5 percent completion rate, while throwing 21 touchdowns and four interceptions. Moreover, Williams, now reunited with Riley at USC, ran for 442 yards and six more touchdowns in 2021.