Star quarterback Caleb Williams is transferring to USC, the former Oklahoma quarterback announced Tuesday.
The move reunites Williams with first-year USC head coach Lincoln Riley, for whom Williams played during his true new year of success with the Sooners in 2021.
"I wanted to go somewhere, I thought I'd get the best development both on and off the field," Williams told ESPN, "Knowing coach Riley and being familiar with his offense certainly played a part in my selection, As well as already know some of the people on the team."
The decision marks the end of the biggest off-season mystery in college football, as Williams spent nearly a month at the NCAA transfer portal. He chose Trojans over UCLA, Georgia, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.
A source told ESPN that Williams signed all of her paperwork to attend USC last weekend. He did so by registering for classes with his academic advisor late Friday night before the school deadline. He is expected to attend his first class at USC on Tuesday and will be cleared to join the team workout in the coming days.
"I want to get to work right away, earn the trust of my teammates, win championships and help get USC back to a top-rated program," Williams said.
The move marks the end of one of the most famous and potentially transformative transfers in modern college football, and is a decision that could loom large on the Pac-12 as well as the game's landscape.
It's a major coup for Riley, which has now added 13 transfers from the portal since arriving at USC in November. No one is as important as Williams, who will provide a building block and star power and help give USC immediate on-field recognition.
Williams' transfer comes at a time when the NCAA's new outright transfer rule and the ability for players to make money from their names, images and likenesses intersect for the first time. But Williams said the NIL "had no effect on my decision."
A true sophomore who stands 6-foot-1 and 218 pounds, Williams will enter the 2022 season among the sport's Heisman Trophy favorites. He is among the boldfaced names at quarterback in college football, along with Alabama junior Bryce Young and Ohio State redshirt sophomore CJ Stroud.
Caleb Williams and his father, Carl, have long based Caleb's career decisions around the goal of being the No. 1 pick in the NFL's draft. Williams will be eligible in 2024 after two seasons at USC.
"Honestly, it was a huge decision and we wanted to weigh all our options and see which school would best prepare me for the next level," said Caleb Williams.
That initial process led Caleb Williams to choose Oklahoma out of high school. Riley had helped develop two No. 1 overall draft picks in Oklahoma since 2017 — Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, as well as another promising NFL starter, Jalen Hirts. Riley left OU for USC in late November, a rare move to leave a coach at one high-profile school for another.
Now Riley's star has followed, and that gives USC the ability to live up to its gilded past in the quarterback position.
"USC clearly has a great football history when it comes to national championships and Heisman winners," Williams said. "But football, aside from school and the city, gives me the opportunity to really explore and explore my other interests off the field."
Williams earned ESPN Freshman All-American status in Oklahoma in 2021 after being stripped of the starting quarterback job from current Spencer Rattler. Williams took over for Rattler in the second quarter of his return against Texas in October and got off to a good start after giving the Sooners a 55-48 win.
Williams started the final seven games for Oklahoma (11-2), and finished the season with 1,912 passing yards and 442 rushing yards, and he made 27 touchdowns – responsible for 21 passings and six rushing – and threw just four interceptions. .
Now Williams will transition from the Big 12 to the Pac 12, and he will be the favorite to start immediately at USC on a pair of inexperienced quarterbacks — second-year players Miller Moss and Vanderbilt replaced Mo Hassan.
USC went 4-8 in 2021 and fired coach Clay Helton in September after just two games. USC's top two quarterbacks relocated after the season, with Kydon Slovis moving to Pittsburgh and Jackson Dart deciding to attend Ole Miss.
Williams said that he grew up moving to California with his family, calling it "always a dream to come and play for one of the California schools".
That dream is now a reality, providing USC with an adrenaline shot and ripples throughout the game.