The journey Caleb Williams and Lincoln Riley have made will culminate with the 2024 NFL draft on Thursday in Detroit. Caleb Williams finished his college career at USC, but the Oklahoma portion of this story involved some friction. It wasn’t anything jarring or eye-popping; it was merely the product of Caleb’s competitive qualities and an athlete’s belief that he was the best player in the Sooners’ quarterback room. In this story from Austin Curtright of The Oklahoman, there’s a snapshot of just how much Caleb Williams believed in his talent and ability at the beginning of his collegiate career.
“I told many people before I went there, and there’s a backstory to it all of why I was so fired up,” Williams continued. “I told people before I went there that I was going to start and play and beat (Rattler) out. I thought I beat (Rattler) out in spring, and he was projected No. 1 and all that, so he started for six games. And so, I prepared. Lincoln told me, ‘Keep going.’ And that’s something I didn’t understand. Those two words I did not understand when he told me because I wasn’t asking him, I wasn’t going to him to beg for playing time.”
Williams explained how Lincoln Riley challenged him in that first year at Oklahoma and pushed him to work to get better even though Spencer Rattler started the first few games of the season and got the practice reps with the other starters on the OU roster.
We know the rest of the story: Williams got his chance when Rattler continued to struggle. Caleb took over the starting job, demonstrated on the field how talented he was, and followed Riley to USC when the Trojans made the stunning hire in the coaching carousel in November of 2021.
Fast-forward to Thursday in Detroit: Caleb Williams will become the third quarterback coached by Riley to win the Heisman Trophy and become a No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, joining Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray. All three quarterbacks began their journeys with Riley at Oklahoma.
Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire. Follow our newest sites, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.