Why Lincoln Riley Thinks Caleb Williams’ Departure Could Be Positive for Trojans

Could Caleb Williams leaving USC football for the NFL be a good thing for the Trojans?

Could the No. 1 quarterback prospect in the country leaving the Trojans actually turn out to be a positive? For someone other than UCLA or the rest of the Big Ten?

USC football head coach Lincoln Riley believes that the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner leaving can turn out to be a positive for the team, even though they are losing one of the best players in college football from the last two years.

“It honestly can be a positive. Tennessee won their first championship here in the modern era the year after Peyton Manning left,” Lincoln Riley told Rick Pizzo, via Big Ten Football on Youtube. “A lot gets made of it because when you do have a player that wins some awards or does some of the great things like Caleb did for us, there becomes from the outside so much attention on that one player, but it’s still a team game … it’s certainly great to have those guys, but we’re doing a lot of building. Guys that we’ve lost that have been No. 1 picks or won the Heisman, there’s always been the sentiment of ‘how are you going to survive the next year?’ And we’ve tended to do okay. I think we will again.”

The 2023 season emphasized Riley’s point that football is a team game and not all about a star or two. Even with Williams, USC struggled as their 116th-ranked defense gave up an average of 34.4 points per game and their offensive line struggled to protect their quarterback.

With Williams out of the picture, the Trojans know they cannot rely on one player and have instead re-built their team, including heavy changes on defense. They brought in former UCLA defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn to repair their defense. The defense showed up strong at the USC Spring Game, racking up five turnovers. This hopes to signal a transition to a stout rather than leaky defense next season.

Offensively, while there is no replacing Williams, USC does know they have some solid quarterbacking talent for the next few years. Miller Moss is set to be the starter after sitting behind Williams, and they also have sophomore Jayden Maiava, who was the Mountain West Freshman of the Year. Next year, they’re also set to bring in Julian Lewis, who is a five-star recruit and the No. 2 player in the Class of 2025, per ESPN. With Riley’s quarterback tutelage, there’s reason for his belief in his team this upcoming season, even without Williams.