While the rumors have been swirling around the Plains that former Oklahoma quarterback Caleb Williams could be transferring to Auburn football, the west coast has been playing host to the former Sooner.
It should come as no surprise that the University of Southern California is in the race for Williams. After all, his former coach and recruiter Lincoln Riley is now head coach of the Trojans. This past weekend, both Caleb Williams and fellow Oklahoma transfer Mario Williams took official visits to USC and apparently liked what they had to offer.
Many sources indicate that Caleb Williams’ father is the true decision-maker and that the QB is not in any hurry to make his transfer decision. However, On3’s We are SC reported that the recruitment is headed in the right direction and the Trojans are very close to securing the pair of transfers.
USC ON3 is currently reporting that Caleb Williams to USC is “nearly a done deal” and they would be “very surprised” if he does not end up at USC
— Kyle (@AllAubarn) January 10, 2022
After having such a successful freshman campaign under Lincoln Riley, it makes sense that Williams would be interested in playing for him again. But while Williams’ father insists that professional development is the most important factor in his son’s decision, fellow FanSided blog Reign of Troy believes that the NIL opportunities in Los Angeles will ultimately pull the QB to USC:
"The schools do not offer NIL money of course, but the tweet is correct in the sense that Williams would net quite a bit of NIL money if he went to USC. It just of course wouldn’t be from the school, but rather the business that chooses to pay Williams for representing them in whatever way. And LA is a major market that none of the other teams competing for Williams can match, which could indeed mean that Williams could make quite a lot of money if he came to SC."
Whether or not Reign of Troy is correct about the value of NIL deals in the LA market, there is a lot to be said about places like Auburn where college football is a bigger deal than anything else. It’s possible that Auburn football could miss out on Caleb Williams, but the Tigers are in good shape with Zach Calzada on the roster.