Caleb Williams makes USC Football an instant contender in Pac-12

Five-star quarterback Caleb Williams finally announced his college destination and it’s USC football. Suddenly, the Trojans are a Pac-12 contender.

After a long wait and plenty of wondering, USC football fans finally got word that they were waiting for in terms of five-star quarterback Caleb Williams who is now officially a Trojan.

As it turns out, USC football knew it was getting Williams last Friday. At least that’s when Williams filled out his enrollment paperwork according to Pete Thamel from ESPN. Here’s what he said about his decision:

"“I wanted to go somewhere I thought would provide me with the best development both on and off the field,” Williams told ESPN. He added: “Getting to know Coach Riley and gaining familiarity with his offense definitely played a part in my selection, as well as already knowing some of the guys on the team.”"

Here’s more from Thamel on the decision timeline:

"“Williams signed all his paperwork to attend USC late last week, a source told ESPN. He registered for classes with his academic advisor late on Friday, ahead of the school’s final deadline to do so. He’s expected to attend his first class at USC in person on Tuesday and be cleared to join team workouts in the upcoming days.”"

As I wrote about last week, Williams was nearing the deadline to enroll at USC in time for spring football and my prediction was still with the Trojans, despite all the noise about Wisconsin. LSU was also in the mix until the end and there were even rumors about UCLA this weekend, but at the end of the day, USC always made the most sense.

Lincoln Riley recruited Williams to Oklahoma and when Riley left to be the USC football head coach, and Williams entered the transfer portal, it seemed like a perfect fit.

Williams was the top-ranked player left in the transfer portal and was stellar for Oklahoma last season, finishing with the fourth-highest QBR in the country according to ESPN.

What will Caleb Williams impact be at USC?

Recently, I wrote about four teams that were poised for huge win increases in 2022, and USC football made the list. That was before Williams.

Now that a potential No. 1 pick will be leading an offense that also added receivers Mario Williams (Oklahoma) and Brenden Rice (Colorado), as well as running back Travis Dye from Oregon, USC football should easily be in the mix to win the Pac-12 championship.

Utah is going to be formidable next season and so will Oregon, especially if the good Bo Nix shows up at quarterback for most of next season. But USC is a sleeping giant. The Trojans have a ton of talent and with an elite quarterback, as well as an elite head coach, it wouldn’t be shocking at all if they won the Pac-12 south or the Pac-12 championship.

Williams is that good and with the addition of him and Riley, the Trojans won the college football offseason.