LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lincoln Riley says he couldn’t — and couldn’t — talk to Caleb Williams between the day the coach left Oklahoma and the day his once-and-future star quarterback entered the transfer portal five weeks later.
The new Southern California coach had to wait patiently and anxiously for the chance to take center stage in his first recruiting class with the Trojans, along with two more ex-Sooners who decided to follow Riley from Norman to the West Coast.
“There’s been a long period of no communication,” Riley said on Wednesday, announcing his signing in February. “And then suddenly Caleb and his parents make the decision to jump into the transfer portal. Shortly after that we had a conversation, and I don’t think we even talked a little bit about football. It was a bit like a long-lost friend. It was nice to be in touch again.”
Riley signed the deal with Williams for the second time, and the former five-star recruit signed up for USC last Friday. The quarterback’s bet capped off a bountiful harvest for the Trojans in the transfer portal: Riley took 13 players away from other schools, from Oregon to Virginia, filling his first roster with elite talent.
Riley said he has no plans to rely so heavily on transfers in the future. His evaluation of the Trojans’ roster for 2021 led him to identify spots that needed urgent improvement, and his coaching staff worked aggressively to find experienced fellow players to join them.
“This is a unique year and a unique situation,” Riley said. “If you’re trying to really revamp a grid and fill the number of spots we’re trying to fill, it’s extremely valuable to have all these different mechanisms to use to fill.”
USC signed two veteran Pac-12 running backs in Oregon’s Travis Dye and Stanford’s Austin Jones, who combined totaled 2,318 yards offense last season. They also bagged three prolific transfer receivers: Oklahoma’s Mario Williams, Colorado’s Brenden Rice, and Washington’s Terrell Bynum combined produced 1,115 yards last season.
Mario Williams and Caleb Williams are already a close duo, and Riley believes his new quarterback will forge similar ties with his new receivers. Although Caleb Williams made the Trojans wait nearly a month before announcing his decision, Riley knows Williams is eager to get started in his new home.
“He works very hard at his craft and he brings great people together,” said Riley. “I think that’s what he’s most excited about right now: just going to class, being with the boys, just getting back into the flow of being part of a team and being part of a university.”
The Trojans’ recruiting class is a great asset for a short span of time at a school that went 4-8 last season. Riley believes the players were tempted by the chance to win quickly in a sought-after location like Southern California, where name, image and likeness rights will only become more valuable in the uncertain recruiting landscape of the future.
“I think the real increase (in NIL) has now happened because recruiting has become competitive,” Riley said. “It’s a factor, and anyone who says it isn’t is not paying attention. … I think it will continue to be another way that we as a program can separate ourselves, and we absolutely intend to do that.”
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