Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams appeared on the St. Brown Podcast. While a range of topics were discussed, Williams talked about his relationship with USC Trojans coach Lincoln Riley.
Williams discussed which coaches have had the biggest impact on him. In addition to his little league coaches and his high school coach, Williams referenced Riley as having a major influence on him.
Williams played with Riley longer than just his time at USC. Williams played for the Oklahoma Sooners in 2021 as a true freshman. Riley was the head coach with the Sooners, before leaving for the USC job.
Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown asked Williams what it was like when Riley left Oklahoma to coach the Trojans.
"When all of that went down I was more like I was more like angry at him," Williams said. "I was going to go to UCLA just to, like play against him."
Williams went on to elaborate that he did take the time to visit other schools and was serious about transferring somewhere other than USC.
"I went on a whole UCLA visit. I went on a couple other visits too. UCLA, LSU, things like that," Williams said. "It really came down to USC and UCLA. Just because I wanted to beat him. Just cause he left."
It could be interesting to think what would have happened if Williams had transferred to UCLA. He would have faced off against Riley's Trojans and it would have been a storyline. His whole future could have been different. Ultimately, the two sides worked it out and Williams transferred to USC.
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Williams went on to explain that as he was making his final decision, Riley took the time to speak to him. The two worked it out, ultimately leading to Williams transferring to USC.
"And then we sat down, had a talk, had a couple facetime talks and then from there I was like yeah it's alright Imma forgive you and we can make this work," Williams said.
Williams went on to play for the USC Trojans for two seasons. With the Trojans, he became a Heisman-winning quarterback and a first-round draft pick.
St. Brown also played for the USC Trojans, but there was no overlap with Riley and Williams. St. Brown asked Williams what Riley is like as a coach. Some coaches choose to be more agressive and yell, while some take a calmer approach.
"It depends on how severe something is. But he definitely will bring you in. Talk to you, sit down," Williams said.
Ahead of the 2023 season, there was a lot of hype surrounding the Trojans. They had a Heisman-winning quarterback and Riley in year two with the team. The season did not go as expected. Williams spoke about how Riley helped him through the tough time.
"My second year at USC, we started losing, things like that, and it was like affecting me," Williams said. "Ge brought me in, sat me down and you know, we talked about life, we talked about the next step, we talked about all these different things to prepare. This is going to help prepare me for the next level and things like that."
Despite the tough 2023 season, when the Trojans went 8-5, Williams passed for 3,633 yards and 30 touchdowns. He threw just five interceptions all season. Following his time with the USC Trojans, Williams went on to be the No. 1 overall draft pick. Now, Riley is a consideration for NFL coaching jobs this offseason, potentially even an offensive coordinator role with the Chicago Bears.
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