Tag: Lincoln Riley Heisman Trophy

The story of Lincoln Riley’s 3 Heisman Trophy-winning QBs

Lincoln Riley has coached 3 #Heisman Trophy winners. Caleb Williams is the latest Riley-coached QB to win the award. #USC #Sooners

Lincoln Riley has now coached three Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks: Caleb Williams joined Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray on Saturday night as signal-callers coached by Riley who have lifted the stiff-arm trophy.

Riley also coached Jalen Hurts to the Heisman runner-up position in 2019. Hurts was beaten by Joe Burrow of LSU, who turned in one of the great single seasons by any college football player in history.

Riley has coached four top-two finishers in the Heisman race over the past six seasons of college football. He has coached three Heisman winners, tying former USC coach Pete Carroll and two other coaches who have guided that many Heisman champions.

Riley is not yet 40 years old.

There is always more to learn about the men Lincoln Riley guided to the Heisman Trophy. Take a look at Baker and Kyler, in addition to Caleb Williams, who has added to USC history, the lore of the Heisman Trophy, and to Lincoln Riley’s reputation as a quarterback whisperer in college football:

Caleb Williams gives USC more Heismans than any other school, and Lincoln Riley 3 in the last 6 years

Which three schools did #USC pass on the all-time #Heisman list? Where does Lincoln Riley stand among #Heisman coaches? More in this Heisman fact sheet:

The Heisman Trophy carries a lot of history with it. This is more than just a reflection of the fact that the most prestigious individual award in American sports is 87 years old, dating back to 1935 when Jay Berwanger became the first Heisman winner. College football history is interwoven with the history of the Heisman, since this award’s winners have so often shaped the narrative arc and dramatic tensions of each college football seasons.

It is true that the Heisman vote can easily devolve into a contest of which College Football Playoff quarterback had the best season. To that extent, Heisman voting has lost the plot. However, Heisman voters did not get it wrong this year. Caleb Williams really was the best player in college football.

Let’s look at the history of the Heisman Trophy and how Caleb Williams, USC, and Lincoln Riley all fit into it:

Caleb Williams becomes USC’s 8th Heisman Trophy winner

1st USC winner since Reggie in 2005. 1st USC Heisman QB since Leinart. 3rd #USC QB to win the Heisman this century. Lincoln Riley’s 3rd #Heisman QB in 6 seasons.

When Lincoln Riley came to USC, the foremost thought was that he would transform the Trojan football program, and he has. The main point of focus was to compete for the Pac-12 championship and eventually (in two or three years) make the College Football Playoff. Riley got really close. He didn’t win, but he did lift USC back to the top tier of college football, back to a place of national relevance.

Saturday night in New York, USC didn’t finish second.

Caleb Williams, the quarterback who came with Riley from the University of Oklahoma to Los Angeles, became USC’s first Heisman Trophy winner since Reggie Bush in 2005. He makes USC the first school with eight men to claim the Heisman Trophy on Heisman Night. Reggie Bush was officially stripped of his 2005 Heisman, but he celebrated a Heisman victory on Heisman Night 17 years ago. If you want to be very technical and precise about it, USC has eight men who claimed a Heisman Trophy victory on Heisman Night. That’s a fact regardless of the official record books and their vacated/stripped distinctions.

More on Caleb Williams and his Heisman victory below:

Caleb Williams is named a Heisman Trophy finalist; will go to New York this Saturday, Dec. 10

The 2022 #HeismanTrophy Ceremony is Saturday, Dec. 10, at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York. 8 Eastern, 5 Pacific, on ESPN. #USC #Heisman

It is Heisman Trophy Week, and it’s always an especially big week for the players who are selected to attend the Heisman Trophy Award Ceremony at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York. It’s also a big week for the schools those players represent.

The University of Southern California is likely to welcome its eighth Heisman Trophy winner to the Heisman fraternity on Saturday, Dec. 10. Quarterback Caleb Williams is the clear favorite to win the award. He would join seven previous Heisman Trophy winners at USC. He would also be a Heisman winner as a sophomore, with at least one more year to make a run at the trophy. Alabama quarterback Bryce Young won the 2021 Heisman and came back this year, trying to become just the second man to win back-to-back Heismans. The only man to ever do it: Archie Griffin of Ohio State in 1974 and 1975.

Let’s tell you about Caleb Williams and the men who will join him at the Heisman ceremony, plus a few notable snubs for the award presentation: