Lincoln Riley: 'It would be awesome' for Caleb Williams, Kliff Kingsbury to reunite

Kliff Kingsbury is leaving USC for the Washington Commanders, where he will serves as the offensive coordinator under new head coach Dan Quinn. Could Caleb Williams be the next former USC Trojan to end up in Washington?

That’s a question everyone is asking right now as there is plenty of speculation that Washington could try to move up from No. 2 to No. 1 in the NFL draft in order to take Williams.

The former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kingsbury was an offensive analyst at USC in 2023 and worked with Caleb Williams.

USC head coach Lincoln Riley joined The Pat McAfee Show on Monday and shared that he would be in favor of a reunion taking place with Kliff Kingsbury and Caleb Williams.

“It would be awesome to see him reunite with Kliff, certainly in Washington,” Lincoln Riley said. “But there’s a lot of things out of control and a lot of things that will transpire between now and then.”

Riley has been doing all he can to help Caleb Williams throughout the draft process and has talked with several NFL teams about his star quarterback.

He did not share if he has spoken with the Commanders, but Riley made it clear that several NFL teams are interested in trying to land Williams.

The Bears currently have the No. 1 overall pick, followed by the Commanders, Patriots, Cardinals and Chargers.

“We’ve talked to quite a few [teams] already. People see the talent on the field. I think they’re wanting to know about the guy in the meeting room. They’re wanting to know about the guy in the locker room, the type of leader he is, the type of person he is. I think just trying to get a great feel,” Lincoln Riley said.

“If you’re going to take somebody with one of the first picks in the NFL draft, typically your questions on the field are pretty much answered. They’re trying to learn really what makes this person tick, what can we really expect here if this guy’s going to become potentially the face of our franchise… So yea, that process has been cool. We’re excited to see how it plays out.”

For what it’s worth, Mel Kiper of ESPN was asked during the First Draft podcast if he believes the Commanders should trade up to take Williams No. 1.

Kiper isn’t convinced that Washington should make the move.

“Personally, I don’t think that gap’s enough right now,” Kiper said. “If Caleb Williams would’ve played this year like he did in 2022, I’d have said, ‘Definitely. Do what you’ve gotta do to get up there.’ But really from the Notre Dame game on, he didn’t. And that was kind of inexplicable, as well, why he didn’t perform at a higher level.”