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Caleb Williams Reveals Historic College Football Program he Nearly Chose Over USC

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Lorenzo J. Reyna | Last updated Feb 21, 2025 8:01 PM ET

Wild transfer stories eventually come out in due time. Caleb Williams just unveiled his own before ultimately choosing USC.

Many college football fans remember Williams for leaving Oklahoma then rising to Heisman Trophy winner for the Trojans. But turns out Lincoln Riley and his staff nearly game-planned against him.

Williams revealed to the St. Brown podcast (co-hosted by former USC great Amon-Ra St. Brown) that he was angry at Riley momentarily. Simply because Riley bolted OU for the Trojans. And that anger nearly led him to choose a historic college program familiar with USC.

"When all of that went down, I was more angry at [coach Riley]," Williams said regarding his transfer process. "At first, I was going to go to UCLA just to play against him. I'm petty. I went on a whole UCLA visit."

That's right Trojan fans -- Williams nearly went "4's up" instead of busting out two fingers and yelling "Fight on!" But Williams wasn't just dialed in on UCLA. He revealed a Southeastern Conference powerhouse that was in the mix.

"I went on a couple other visits too. I went to UCLA and LSU, but it really came down to USC and UCLA just because I wanted to beat him because he left," Williams said.

However, a bunch of conversations and a FaceTime call changed Williams' mind.

"Then we sat down and talked, and had a couple of FaceTime talks," Williams said. "From there it was like, okay, I'm going to forgive you and we can make this work and make [expletive happen]."

The partnership and re-linking eventually worked. Williams became the newest Heisman winner at USC and under Riley.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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