Oklahoma QB Caleb Williams To Enter Transfer Portal

It doesn't necessarily mean he's leaving, but after just half a season as the Sooners' starter, Williams has initiated the process by which he can communicate with other schools.

Oklahoma quarterback Caleb Williams will enter the transfer portal.

It has been widely assumed that Williams would be entering the NCAA Transfer Portal soon after the conclusion of the Sooners’ 2021 season.

Williams made that a reality today.

pic.twitter.com/8GcVHURSIL

— Caleb Williams (@CALEBcsw) January 3, 2022

"I think we all come to college to find our own path and prepare for the future," Williams wrote on Twitter. "I came to Oklahoma with a game plan, but with all the recent changes, I need to figure out what is the right path for me moving forward. According to NCAA rules, as a student-athlete, the only way I can speak with other schools and see who may offer the best preparation and development for my future career is by entering the portal. Staying at OU will definitely be an option as I begin this process.

"I'm going to take a few days off to decompress and relax with my family, but thank you again everyone for all the love and support!"

Williams, the Sooners’ wunderkind freshman QB who actually stirred midseason Heisman hype when he led OU back to the greatest comeback in the history of the Red River Rivalry and then took over the starting job from presumed Heisman frontrunner Spencer Rattler, has entered the portal.

Williams being in the portal doesn’t preclude him from coming back and doesn’t necessarily mean he’s leaving. Players enter the portal so they can begin the process of exploring transfer options. It’s against NCAA rules for coaches or other school representatives to initiate such conversations with student-athletes from other school until that student-athlete has formally entered the portal.

Just last month, two Sooners — offensive lineman Brey Walker and wide receiver Theo Wease — entered the portal but then returned to OU without ever actually leaving.

Of course, in Williams’ case, the stakes are higher.

Williams was the No. 1 overall recruit in the nation when he committed to the Sooners on Jul 4, 2020, and signed with OU just over a year ago.

He dual-enrolled at OU while still finishing his academic coursework at Gonzaga College High School, then he and his parents moved from Washington, DC, to Norman.

During the pandemic shutdown, with official recruiting visits on hiatus, Williams initiated an unprecedented recruiting event — the Sooner Summit — at which he gathered dozens of the top recruits in the country for an unofficial visit to Norman, where they visited the campus and toured as regular students.

Williams spent last spring and began the season as the backup quarterback behind Rattler — Rattler won the starting job during the 2020 preseason and by the end of the year was Cotton Bowl MVP, then got all the preseason hype as college football’s most outstanding player prior to 2021 — but every time Williams got on the field, he surpassed Rattler’s big-play production and overall efficiency.

By the time Rattler and the Sooners found themselves down 21 to the Longhorns on Oct. 9, Williams’ OU legacy was underway.

He replaced Rattler in the Cotton Bowl and in just his third college game threw for 212 yards on 16-of-25 passing with two touchdowns — including an almost impossible 52-yard TD to Marvin Mims — and also rushed for 88 yards and a touchdown on just four carries. That included a 66-yard touchdown on fourth-and-1.

From that point, the Sooners’ starting quarterback job belonged to Williams.

He threw for 295 yards and four touchdowns against TCU, 178 yards and three touchdowns against Kansas, and a 402 yards and a school-record-tying six touchdowns against Texas Tech.

Perhaps his signature play of the season came at KU. As the Sooners were trying to run out the clock with a slim lead, running back Kennedy Brooks was stopped short on fourth-and-1 from midfield. But instead of KU taking possession, Williams executed one of the most impromptu plays ever seen: he reached in and snatched the football away from Brooks and spun forward through a disbelieving Jayhawk defense for a first down that salted the game away.

“It was really tough because I've never been a guy to — everybody knows I came in here and I wanted to win. I wanted to win the job,” Williams said after the Alamo Bowl. “I wanted to go and try and win games for us and help win games for us. I mean, it was tough sitting there watching sometimes.

“I tried to do my best, and I hope that I did well. I think I did well. When I finally started — you can go ask Justin Broiles; in the summer, I told him if and when I get the chance, I will not give it back. I always like looked to that Tom Brady thing with Drew Bledsoe, and I just kept referring to that in my mind, just going back and watching it, things like that, just not giving the spot back.”

Williams’ success dimmed in the Sooners’ final three regular season games, however: 9-of-18 for 142 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions in a loss at Baylor; 8-of-18 for 87 yards with a touchdown and an interception in a tight win over Iowa State; and 20-of-39 for 252 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions in a loss at Oklahoma State that knocked the Sooners out of contention for the Big 12 title game.

His slide showed plenty of room for growth, but it also may have been a hit at coach Lincoln Riley’s investment in the Sooners. The day after OU lost to OSU, Riley bailed out and took the job at USC.

During the regular season, Williams completed 115-of-184 passes for a team-leading 1,670 yards with 18 touchdowns and four interceptions, and was second on the team with 72 carries for 408 yards and six TDs.

Williams was excellent in the Sooners’ 47-32 Alamo Bowl victory over Oregon as well, completing 21-of-27 for 242 yards with three TDs and no picks and also rushing seven times for 34 yards.

Williams wasn’t the first quarterback Riley offered out of the 2021 class. He offered Brock Vandagriff, a talented prospect from Georgia first, and Vandagriff soon committed to the Sooners.

Riley told Williams and his family that he couldn’t recruit Williams because he’d promised Vandagriff and his family that he wouldn’t go after another QB in the class.

But Williams wanted to study under Riley so bad, he vowed to walk on at OU.

That prompted Vandagriff to reconsider, and he decommitted and signed with Georgia.

Now, with Riley at the helm of the Trojans, USC is likely near the top of Williams’ transfer portal wish list. There may be some hurt feelings over how Riley left, but Williams made a business decision to come to OU because of what Riley did with Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray and even Jalen Hurts, and it would figure he could do so again and land at Southern Cal.

After all, as Williams' father said to Yahoo Sports, getting to the NFL is the most important thing.

Carl Williams: “Professional development. We want Caleb to be ready to play when he becomes a pro. You go to college to get prepared for your career. His chosen career path is professional football. We want him to be prepared for when that time comes.”

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 3, 2022

Carl Williams told Yahoo! Sports' Pete Thamel that "professional development" is the biggest factor. "We want Caleb to be ready to play when he becomes a pro. You go to college to get prepared for your career. his chosen career path is professional football. We want him to be prepared when that time comes."

Another option would be to follow Vandagriff once again and take over the helm at Georgia under Kirby Smart, where the Bulldogs certainly look to be an elite quarterback away from being essentially on Alabama's level. Rumors have circulated in recent days about a pending NIL opportunity at Georgia that would be hard for other schools to match.

One other rumor of intrigue is Miami where Mario Cristobal begins his tenure if, and it's a big if, the Hurricanes could bring in former LSU offensive coordinator Joe Brady into the fold.

Williams also could simply stick around Norman, where he said he’s spoken every day with incoming offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby.

Lebby had significant success with quarterbacks at his last two stops: Dillon Gabriel at Central Florida and Matt Corral at Ole Miss.

With Lebby as his position coach, Gabriel threw for 3,653 yards and 29 touchdowns with seven interceptions as a freshman at UCF in 2019.

In two seasons as Lebby’s starter at Ole Miss, Corral also became a strong Heisman frontrunner for much of the 2021 season. He completed 71 percent of his passes and threw for 3,337 yards with 29 TDs and 14 interceptions last year and hit 68 percent for 3,343 yards, 20 TDs and five picks this year as he finished seventh in the Heisman voting.

As for new head coach Brent Venables, Williams said he likes his energy and his passion.

“I think Oklahoma chose the right guy to come in here and be the head guy,” Williams said, “and we'll see how Oklahoma does and how I decide.”

Venables and athletic director Joe Castiglione released an unprecedented joint statement minutes after Williams declared he'd be entering the portal. One of the main focuses of the statement was NIL opportunities.

“Caleb Williams enjoyed an exciting and impactful first season at the University of Oklahoma and we will continue to be engaged with him and his family on a comprehensive plan for his development as a student and a quarterback, including a path to graduation and strategic leveraging of NIL opportunities,” Castiglione and Venables said in the statement. “While we believe OU provides Caleb the best opportunity to develop as a player and realize his goals for college and beyond, we respect his right to explore his options following key staffing changes here.

“OU’s commitment to student-athlete development and its powerful track record of preparing players for the next level, including quarterbacks for the NFL, is unparalleled. Jeff Lebby is one of the most elite offensive coordinators and quarterback developers in the country. With the players we know are returning and new ones on the way, we will continue to be explosive on offense under his direction." 

Venables said during the postgame celebration that he looked forward to Williams leading the OU offense in the future.

Afterward, Williams was asked, based on Venables’ comments, if there should be an anticipation that he comes back. He skirted the question, saying “I have the chance to be here” but was previously focused on finishing the semester and winning the Alamo Bowl.

After that, the future was uncertain, he said.

“I’m about to go on vacation with my family,” Williams said. “I haven't been on vacation in a really long time. After all these ups and downs, I want to go on vacation, spend time with my family and focus on that, and that's it.”

And now, Caleb Williams will view his future through the perspective of the transfer portal.