Caleb Williams is 9th transfer to win Heisman Trophy

USC quarterback Caleb Williams easily won the 2022 Heisman Trophy, which was announced Saturday night. Williams finished 611 points ahead of TCU quarterback Max Duggan and had 544 first-place votes to Duggan’s 188.

Williams transferred from Oklahoma to USC in the offseason. He is the ninth transfer to win the Heisman, including the fourth in six seasons. He is one of five Heisman winners to have transferred from another four-year school.

Here’s a closer look at the transfers who preceded Williams as Heisman winners.

The eight transfers who’ve won the Heisman

RB Doc Blanchard, Army, 1945: He signed with North Carolina out of high school (Tar Heels coach Jim Tatum was his mom’s cousin) and played on the Tar Heels’ freshman team in 1943, then enlisted in the Army and later transferred to West Point. He was the first junior to win the Heisman; his backfield mate, Glenn Davis, won the award in 1946.

QB Roger Staubach, Navy, 1963: He attended New Mexico Military Institute for a year, then transferred to Navy, where he won the Heisman as a junior.

RB O.J. Simpson, USC, 1968: Simpson played two years at City College of San Francisco before moving on to USC. He was second, to UCLA QB Gary Beban, in the 1967 Heisman voting, then won the award in ’68.

RB Mike Rozier, Nebraska, 1983: Rozier, a New Jersey native, attended Coffeyville (Kan.) CC for a year before signing with Nebraska. He finished 10^th in Heisman voting as a junior before winning it as a senior.

QB Cam Newton, Auburn, 2010: He signed with Florida in 2007 out of high school, transferred to Blinn College (Texas) in January 2009 after leaving Florida, then won the Heisman in his only season at Auburn.

QB Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma, 2017: Mayfield walked-on at Texas Tech and started as a true freshman in 2013. He left for OU after that season and won the Heisman as a senior.

QB Kyler Murray, Oklahoma, 2018: Murray signed with Texas A&M out of high school and started three games for the Aggies as a true freshman in 2015. He transferred to OU, sat out the 2016 season, backed up Mayfield in ’17 and won the Heisman as a junior in ’18.

QB Joe Burrow, LSU, 2019: Burrow played in 10 games in three years at Ohio State, then transferred to LSU following the 2017 season. After enjoying some success as the Tigers’ starter in 2018, he won the Heisman as a senior in 2019.