LAKE FOREST, Ill. (670 The Score) — When head coach Lincoln Riley welcomed in promising quarterback Caleb Williams to Oklahoma in 2021, he believed the then-freshman could be special.
Williams lived up to his billing, emerging as a star at Oklahoma and then winning the Heisman Trophy a year later after he followed Riley to USC. He threw for 10,082 yards and 93 touchdowns across three college seasons with the Sooners and Trojans while emerging as the latest heralded quarterback prospect to learn under Riley's watch.
The Bears made Williams the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft on Thursday evening, with the hope that he can become the long-awaited franchise quarterback in Chicago. The 22-year-old Williams has his own lofty goals in the NFL, revealing that he hopes to win eight Super Bowls to surpass legendary quarterback Tom Brady's seven championships.
"He's not scared for greatness,” Riley said Friday. “He's not scared to put it out there. He's not scared to be himself.”
Williams is the third Riley-coached player to become the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft, joining Baker Mayfield (2018) and Kyler Murray (2019) in that company.
USC won 11 games during Williams’ Heisman Trophy-winning season in 2022, but he and the Trojans also endured struggles as the program regressed considerably last season. After a 6-0 start, the Trojans finished 7-5 in the regular season. Williams opted out of playing in the team’s Holiday Bowl victory in December.
“It’s going to be good for him in the long run,” Riley said. “You put up his career to that point: won a state championship in high school, we won a bunch of games his first year at Oklahoma, we won a bunch of games our first year at USC. He hadn’t really been through something like this, and certainly on this big of a stage and the stage is certainly just going to continue to grow as he transitions to the NFL. And I just said, ‘Look, part of your ability to lead a team and become the player that you’re going to become is going to be your ability to handle failure. And sometimes you’ve got to go through it. You’ve got to struggle a little bit at some point and build up some scar tissue to get you ready for what’s coming. How you handle this is going to be maybe even more important than how you handle any of the success of the other things that have come your way up to this point.’”
Bears general manager Ryan Poles also viewed USC’s struggles in 2023 as a learning experience for Williams entering the NFL.
Riley sees the Bears in a similar position to where USC was before he took over – a proud program that's looking to emerge from some difficult years. Williams helped the Trojans get back to relevance in the college football landscape, and Riley believes he's now ready to lead the Bears forward.
“He certainly has the inner belief to get that done,” Riley said.
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago’s sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670 .
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