University of Southern California Athletics
- After signing with USC, Caleb Williams has his eyes set on the NFL.
- Part of his vision includes the lofty goal of beating Tom Brady’s records.
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Caleb Williams went from a five-star recruit who was known amongst college football fans to a household name in less than six months. It has been a wild journey that didn’t quite play out how he had planned.
Williams, the No. 2 quarterback prospect in the Class of 2021 behind Quinn Ewers, committed to Oklahoma out of high school. Upon arrival, he was the backup to Spencer Rattler.
After some early-season struggles, Rattler got the hook against Texas and Williams led the largest comeback in Red River Shootout history. From that point forward, it was his team.
After the regular season, head coach Lincoln Riley left for USC but Williams chose to stick through bowl season before entering the transfer portal. Once he had entered the portal, it was expected that Williams would follow his former head coach.
In a new article by Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger, Williams and his father Carl spoke about the process. Neither of them shied away from the fact that NIL was a factor.
“There are more opportunities here than anywhere else,” Carl said. “Hollywood is here!”
However, NIL was not the only, or the most important factor. That notion was made clear multiple times throughout the process— it was about getting Caleb ready for the NFL.
“Are we betting on NIL for a couple of million (dollars) or betting on the guaranteed money that is the NFL?” Carl asked.
As a result, Williams’ recruitment came down to three programs.
According to Carl, USC, UCLA and Wisconsin were the final three. As expected, Caleb chose the Trojans. Now that he is in Los Angeles, with multiple, very big NIL deals, his days are busy.
Despite all of the outside noise and attention, Williams’ focus remains on football and becoming the best player that he can.
Part of that focus is about reaching his goals. They are quite lofty— he wants to be better than the G.O.A.T. and isn’t going to let money or NIL get in the way.
“To think about [NIL] as it is your only focus and it isn’t football anymore, that’s not the case with me,” he said. “I have dreams and aspirations of getting to the NFL, being great there and beating all of Tom Brady’s Super Bowls and passing records. I want to beat all of those.”
There is a long way to go for Williams to take over the title as the greatest quarterback of all-time, which he would if he beat Brady’s records. It starts with 2022, when the Trojans will try to return to the glory of the days of yore.