USC quarterback Caleb Williams still remembers what he said at 10 years old when he turned in his equipment after the season. He recalled that story at the Heisman Trophy ceremony on Dec. 10. He looked at his father Carl and made a declaration.
"This is what I wanted to do for my career," Williams said during the presentation. "I wanted to be a football player. I wanted to be a quarterback. I loved it. I loved everything about it."
Williams was about it in 2022. He showed promise as a freshman at Oklahoma, but he took the next step after transferring to USC. Williams passed for 4,075 yards, 37 TDs and four interceptions. He rushed for 372 yards and 10 TDs. He led USC to an 11-2 season, a Pac-12 championship game appearance and nearly cracked the College Football Playoff. There was not a more exciting player in college football in 2022. For his efforts, he is the 2022 Sporting News College Football Player of the Year.
MORE: Sporting News 2022 All-America Team
He is the sixth USC player to win the award and the first since Reggie Bush (2005). Williams helped usher in a new era of Trojans football by being a great football player – and a great quarterback.
Rewind to the USC spring game on April 23, 2022. Former Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III was on the call for ESPN. Williams, who followed coach Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma, was in the spotlight. Williams completed 10 of 12 passes for 98 yards and two TDs, but Griffin saw enough. In fact, Griffin saw exactly what Williams wanted to be.
"I say this about guys and it’s a complete compliment," Griffin III told Sporting News. "Caleb doesn’t play quarterback. He plays football. If he has a clean pocket, then he’ll have perfect mechanics. If he doesn’t have a clean pocket and he’s running around scrambling, then he’ll make the appropriate throw however he has to get that throw off. So, off-platform throws, he could do them.
"He’s an eclectic personality. I don’t know if you’ve seen some of the clothing choices and what he does with his fingernails, but his game is the same way," Griffin said. "It’s just a little bit of 'whatever I’ve gotta do to get it done'."
Williams joined the press conference at the USC spring game as Riley was exiting the stage. He shook hands and slapped the shoulder pads of the teammates on the podium before taking the first question: "How would you evaluate your performance?"
"The beginning was solid, the end was not so solid," he said.
While one could call that foreshadowing for USC’s season – the Trojans soared into the College Football Playoff conversation after a 4-8 season in 2021 – that would be under-selling what Williams accomplished. He had seven games with at least 300 yards passing and eight games with at least four total TDs. Losses to Utah in the regular season and Pac-12 championship game kept USC out of the CFP, but Williams averaged 372 passing yards with eight TD passes in those games. He played through a leg injury in the second half of the Pac-12 championship game on Dec. 3.
| Opponent | Comp. % | Pass Yards | Pass TDs | INT | Rush TDs |
| at No. 20 Utah | 59.5 | 381 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| at No. 16 UCLA | 74.4 | 470 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| No. 15 Notre Dame | 81.8 | 232 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| vs. No. 11 Utah | 68.3 | 363 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
He impressed Griffin through the entire season – especially with that magician-like playmaking skill.
"Some games early in the year he was playing great quarterbacking football and people were like, ‘What’s going on? Why isn’t Caleb Williams doing this or doing that?’" Griffin said. "Now you’re starting to see him do those things because he has to. In these great games against good teams, special players have to take over the game. That’s what he’s doing. I’m a huge believer in what he can do."
Still, the first year with Williams, Riley and USC's supporting cast was a resounding success.
MORE: Riley, Dykes get high marks among first-year coaches
"It’s a new offense, new culture, new coaches," Williams said at the spring game. "A bunch of different new players, big play-making ability. The confidence in each other and confidence in the plays and the offense means a lot."
That was apparent at the Heisman Trophy ceremony. Riley teared up during Williams’ speech. Williams thanked everyone ranging from USC athletic Mike Bohn to his high school coaches to all of his offensive linemen – who were in attendance. He then circled back to his father and the plan they made at that young age. The breakfast club workouts at 5:30 a.m., evening conditioning and attention to nutrition, sleep and psychology paid off. But it came down to Williams wanting to be a football player – and a quarterback.
"I wanted to impact the game," Williams said. "I wanted to share the ball with all my teammates, and if you know me and my dad, we are very plan-based."
MORE: What a 12-team CFP bracket would look like
What’s next? It is a junior season which Williams will be counted on to lead USC to that next step. Expectations will be higher – but this is a player who set the bar high since he was 10 years old. He left a message for those following in his footsteps.
"If you lose your bid to get into the College Playoffs, know that you’ll get through it like I did and I just learned," Williams said. "It’s back to work. The job isn’t done."
