Lincoln Riley describes how Caleb Williams has taken his offense to a new level

It’s not often that a team goes into a season with the reigning Heisman Trophy winner on the roster, but such is the case for USC in 2023 with star Caleb Williams returning.

Throw in the fact that Williams is personally coached by quarterback guru Lincoln Riley and the potential for the Trojans this fall is off the charts. Especially given how Riley describes his young gunslinger.

“The great thing about this guy is he’s still extremely hungry and he’s still very young in terms of himself the player and his quarterback career,” Riley said. “He’s got a long ways to go and a lot of ways to improve, which is exciting.”

If improvement is in the cards, the rest of the college football world has been put on notice.

Because Caleb Williams was about as elite as they come in 2022. He accounted for 52 total touchdowns while throwing just five interceptions, racking up 4,537 passing yards and another 382 rushing yards.

The talented USC star has made it look easy, like many of Riley’s other college quarterbacks.

“It’s been a fun journey up to this point with Caleb,” Riley said. “He’s got some similarities to the other guys, he’s also got some differences. It’s been a fun skillset to work with really from the very beginning in that he committed to us fairly early in the recruiting process, so that relationship started developing from the very beginning.”

Caleb Williams was impressive as a freshman at Oklahoma in 2021, but it was a far cry from what he’d emerge as at USC after transferring to follow Riley there. He was on another level with the Trojans.

If he can continue to unlock additional layers to his growth, USC should be in College Football Playoff contention yet again. The Trojans came up a little short defensively and couldn’t figure out how to beat the rival Utes.

Caleb Williams could shift that paradigm this fall.

“To see how he’s grown, how he’s progressed, how he’s matured as a leader, competitor, how he’s really gone from a young guy just taking it all in to a guy who has a good grasp of what we’re trying to do offensively, it’s been fun to be part of that evolution,” Riley said.

“He’s been a lot of fun to work with. It’s been great to have him out here with us at USC and see the impact he’s made in the locker room here and some of the changes that have happened in a short amount of time. He’s certainly done his part.”