Why did Caleb Williams transfer? Exploring potential reasons behind USC QB's move ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
Former USC star and potential number 1 overall pick Caleb Williams thrived in his two seasons for the Trojans. After flying under the radar in Oklahoma, the 6-foot-1, 215 lb QB was a clear top-level talent in Southern California, proving that his decision to transfer was a good one.
Why did Caleb Williams transfer?
There are multiple factors in any decision, (including some that Williams likely kept to himself), but here are some potential motivators behind the move:
#1, Lincoln Riley's offensive system played to Caleb Williams' strengths
Lincoln Riley was Williams' former head coach at Oklahoma before moving to SoCal. Williams knew he would thrive under a coach whose bread and butter was offense, so this likely played into his decision to leave the Sooners and join the Trojans after his freshman year.
After passing for just 1,912 yards for Oklahoma, his numbers ballooned to 4,537 yards during Riley's inaugural year at USC's helm. As such, this led Caleb Williams to his Heisman Trophy victory in 2022 and his draft stock skyrocketing, opening doors for him to be selected first overall in the upcoming NFL draft.
#2, Caleb Williams wasn't the main man in Oklahoma
In 2021, Spencer Rattler was the main signal-caller for the Sooners, and Williams, being the highly sought-after young talent that he is, felt slighted (via Sports Illustrated). In his own words, here's what Williams had to say about the situation:
“The most recent one was Oklahoma when I didn’t start. That one was real tough for me.”
Furthermore, the situation between Lincoln Riley picking between him and Rattler seemed to be getting worse as time went by.
“So he [Rattler] started for six games, and so I prepared, I kept preparing. Lincoln told me 'Keep going.' That’s something I didn’t understand. I didn’t come to him to beg for playing time. I came to him and asked him, 'How do I do it? How, how do I beat this dude out?' Because he never let me get reps with the first team."
Obviously, coming to USC, Caleb Williams didn't have as tough of a competition for the starting QB job, so the rest is history.
#3, Oklahoma quickly moved on to Dillon Gabriel
Caleb Williams' father Carl notably went on record in 2022 to say that Oklahoma bungled his son away by moving on too quickly after the then-freshman announced his intent to leave (via Reign of Troy).
Williams' old man revealed that a return to the Sooners was actually at the top of his son's list, but the team did "things that weren't in his best interest." This likely included them focusing immediately on developing Dillon Gabriel to be their starting QB.
With the soon-to-be Heisman winner's ultimate goal being to play in the NFL, the family just didn't feel OU did enough to develop him to become a pro. Here's what Carl Williams said about his son's situation with the Sooners:
"I said this to Bob Stoops. I said this to Brent Venables...I’ll give you the clean version. You go to college to get prepared for your career. You want to be a doctor, you go to med school at the best college you can go into. You want to be a lawyer, you do the same. What we wanted to do was be prepared to play [in the NFL on] Day One. That was the driving force."
With all this in mind, it isn't surprising that Williams moved on, and looking at how it played out it was a good decision.