Caleb Williams opens up on his decision to enter transfer portal, eventually join USC

Caleb Williams‘ decision to transfer from Oklahoma to USC and follow former Sooners headman Lincoln Riley was one of the biggest storylines of the offseason. After many talks with those close to him, Williams’ decision to join the Trojans’ was met with conflicted reactions.

“Yeah, it was it was challenging, to say the least,” Williams said in an interview on College GameDay. “Because I was expecting [Riley] to be my coach [at Oklahoma] for the next three, four years. I made a decision just to go into the transfer portal and see my options and see what I can do. I made my decision to come here after really long talks, me and my dad, we were going back and forth about it … a lot of it was just like I wanted to do certain things and he [wanted me to do] certain things.

“He didn’t feel a certain way, he wanted me to do other things. And so looking back, it’s brought me and my mentors and my father closer to say the least. I used a couple choice words for the first time to my father. At the end of the day, I mean what kind of said that to my dad is, ‘I’m gonna do what I want. This is my decision.’ It’s been a blast ever since with these guys.”

Williams’ debut at USC was a 66-14 routing of the Rice Owls, where he completed 19 of his 22 passes for 249 yards and two touchdowns before getting pulled early due to the score. His 95.2 QBR was ranked No. 6 through all Division I quarterbacks through Week 1.

While only one game is under his belt in LA, Williams’ decision is seemingly working out for the best. Him and Riley will look to continue the efficient start to their USC careers when they battle Stanford in their Pac-12 opener Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. ET live on ABC.