Caleb Williams lands new NIL deal
Caleb Williams signed paperwork to enroll at USC last week and he apparently hasn’t stopped signing since.
USC has long spoken of itself as a great landing spot for marquee athletes looking to take advantage of NIL opportunities. But USC players weren’t very visible when it came to that space last year. That likely won’t be the case for Williams.
On Wednesday, the USC bookstore began selling USC memorabilia signed by Williams. On Friday, Beats by Dre tagged Williams in a twitter post. It read: “Welcome to LA and the Beats family…Let’s get it.”
In a video Williams posted to Twitter on Tuesday announcing his commitment to the Trojans, the first non-USC football player featured was Dr. Dre.
Dr. Dre, as well as Beats by Dre, and USC have prior connections. Dr. Dre and business partner Jimmy Iovine donated $70 million to USC in 2013 to create a degree that combines multiple studies, including business, marketing, product development, design and liberal arts. The program is named the USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation. Its main facility, Iovine and Young Hall, opened in October 2019.
In May 2018, the company produced USC Iovine and Young Acadamy branded headphones.
Caleb Williams’ NIL Valuation
Caleb Williams’ earning power at USC should be significant. When On3 released its first NIL rankings, including the NIL 100, in January, Williams came in at No. 7 among college football players and No. 16 among student-athletes. His valuation now stands at $427,000.
There are undoubtedly more NIL opportunities awaiting Williams during his USC career. And it would not be surprising to see the attention he pulls in Los Angeles help a few teammates catch onto more NIL deals.
Williams and USC
Williams was one of 13 transfer portal additions announced by USC in the 2022 recruiting class. He’s expected to land the starting quarterback spot after earning it partway through his true freshman season while playing for Oklahoma and Lincoln Riley.
As a true freshman, Williams threw for 1,912 yards and 21 touchdowns against just four interceptions last season. He also rushed for 442 yards and six scores.
The quarterback battle between he and Miller Moss should be fun to watch this spring, but it’s difficult to imagine a scenario where Williams isn’t taking the first snaps when USC opens its 2022 season against Rice this September.
