During his three seasons playing college football at Oklahoma and USC, Caleb Williams emerged as one of the top players in the country, winning the Heisman Trophy in 2022 and emerging as one of the top prospects in the upcoming 2024 NFL Draft. But in a shocking bit of news, it sounds like Williams once considered entering college football as a walk-on.
During an interview on The Pat McAfee Show this week, Lincoln Riley, who coached Caleb Williams at both USC and Oklahoma, revealed that Williams was willing to walk on at Oklahoma if he wasn’t offered a scholarship.
“The thing I’ve always appreciated about him is like, he’s always thinking about the next step,” Riley said according to On3. “And it’s always the big picture. You know, at Oklahoma, there was a time in the beginning where we weren’t going to take him and he said, well fine coach, I’ll just walk on. That’s his mindset. Like it’s always about that next step. And so he’s ready for this. He’s excited for it and we’re hoping he ends up in a great situation.”
Obviously, this is pretty shocking news, considering how much of a star Williams turned into, and it led to a lot of reactions on social media as a result.
Fascinating detail here. https://t.co/OEgMosChSR
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 5, 2024
Believable story. https://t.co/vU6mhM5rrR pic.twitter.com/iOQenYJfMt
— Danny Davis (@_dannydavis) February 5, 2024
Lying >>> https://t.co/bOeHqA8b5Z
— Mike Craven (@CravenMike) February 5, 2024
The whole interview was great and worth listening to, a must listen for SC fans https://t.co/HIYRpZHmzI
— The Trojan Blade (@TheTrojanBlade) February 5, 2024
My guess is that was when Riley thought Vandergriff was going to be his QB that cycle.
Which would have been just another evaluation mistake in a long line of them. https://t.co/Tzudrg9Jch
— Locked On Sooners Podcast (@LockedOnSooners) February 5, 2024
Stay until the end.
Lincoln Riley wants to soft-sell you that Caleb Williams was prepared to walk on at Oklahoma. https://t.co/Br5My3RRjH
— Josh Newman (@Joshua_Newman) February 5, 2024
As it turns out, Williams did get his scholarship offer from Oklahoma, and the rest is history.
