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Ex-Oklahoma QB Caleb Williams commits to USC, will reunite with Lincoln Riley

sam cooper
College football writer
·4 min read
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Caleb Williams is following Lincoln Riley to USC.

Williams, who emerged as a star quarterback for Oklahoma during the 2021 season, announced on Tuesday that he will continue his college career at USC. The Trojans hired Riley, Williams' head coach at Oklahoma, after the conclusion of the 2021 regular season.

"I wanted to go somewhere I thought would provide me with the best development both on and off the field," Williams told ESPN. "Getting to know coach Riley and gaining familiarity with his offense definitely played a part in my selection, as well as already knowing some the guys on the team."

According to ESPN, Williams registered for classes at USC late last week:

Williams signed all his paperwork to attend USC late last week, a source told ESPN. He registered for classes with his academic advisor late on Friday, ahead of the school's final deadline to do so. He's expected to attend his first class at USC in person on Tuesday and be cleared to join team workouts in the upcoming days.

Williams, a five-star recruit out of Washington D.C., signed with the Sooners in the spring of 2021 and became the team’s starting quarterback after early season struggles from Spencer Rattler. He seized the job after replacing Rattler against Texas and leading the Sooners to an epic comeback victory. Williams never relinquished the starting role from there and finished the season throwing for 1,912 yards, 21 touchdowns and four interceptions. He also rushed for 442 yards and six scores at OU.

Riley abruptly left for USC the day after Oklahoma lost to Oklahoma State in the regular-season finale, a loss that snapped Oklahoma’s six-year Big 12 title streak. Oklahoma replaced Riley with Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables and Williams stayed with the Sooners through the team’s bowl win over Oregon.

However, on Jan. 3, Williams announced his intent to explore a transfer. In a statement announcing his decision, Williams cited “recent changes” at Oklahoma as the impetus for the decision. Williams characterized Riley’s departure as “sudden” and said it was “really hard” for the team. Williams said staying at Oklahoma was an option, but the Sooners quickly added ex-UCF QB Dillon Gabriel after Williams made his announcement.

Since then, Williams’ transfer process has been one of the biggest storylines in college football. He was connected to schools like UCLA, Georgia and Wisconsin over the past month, but Williams eventually chose USC.

What does USC's QB room look like with Caleb Williams?

Williams’ father Carl told Yahoo Sports that “professional development” was the most important factor for the family. At Oklahoma, Riley helped develop Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts into NFL starters. Mayfield and Murray both went No. 1 overall in the NFL draft. Williams hopes to be the next.

“We want Caleb to be ready to play when he becomes a pro. You go to college to get prepared for your career. His chosen career path is professional football. We want him to be prepared for when that time comes," Carl Williams said.

At USC, Williams walks into a quarterbacks room without much competition. The USC quarterbacks who took the majority of the snaps in 2021 are no longer on the roster. Kedon Slovis, a multi-year starter for the Trojans, already transferred to Pittsburgh. Jaxson Dart, a four-star 2021 recruit who played in six games last season, put his name into the transfer portal on Jan. 10. Dart committed to Ole Miss on Sunday.

With those two leaving, Miller Moss and Mo Hasan were the only two scholarship QBs remaining on the USC roster prior to Williams’ decision. Moss was a four-star 2021 recruit who went 8-of-13 for 74 yards and a touchdown in his lone appearance for the Trojans. Hasan is a transfer from Vanderbilt who missed the 2021 season with a knee injury.

USC went 4-8 in 2021. The school fired coach Clay Helton in September after just two games.