USC QB Caleb Williams Talks Transfer Portal, NIL Endorsements

Caleb Williams has been busy since transferring to USC but has one goal in mind.

USC Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams has been busy adjusting to the city of Los Angeles since transferring to USC at the beginning of February. 

Williams has discovered that being the most high-profile transfer of college football is not as flashy as it may seem.

In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Williams talked about the transition from Oklahoma to USC, the transfer portal, and the NIL.

Williams has spent the last two weeks living out of a hotel room trying to make up the classwork he missed while appearing for NIL endorsements and going to football walkthroughs.

Playing football in the City of Angels does come with benefits, however. Williams and his father, Carl, got to attend Super Bowl 56 in SoFi Stadium and the star freshman has taken full advantage of the NIL. Williams has signed endorsement deals with Beats by Dre and AC+ION water, a new brand that is launching in March, and Williams is the face of the company. 

While the beautiful weather and NIL endorsements are nice, Williams acknowledged that he has bigger aspirations than just selling his own water.

“You have to think about NIL,” Caleb says, “but to think about it as it is your only focus and it isn’t football anymore, that’s not the case with me. I have dreams and aspirations of getting to the NFL, being great there, and beating all of Tom Brady’s Super Bowls and passing records. I want to beat all of those.”

That is quite the goal, and Williams knows his best chance of reaching his goal is by playing football at USC for coach Lincoln Riley.

As soon as Williams entered the transfer portal on Jan. 3, he and his family began receiving calls, texts and emails from coaches all around the country trying to recruit the freshman. 

Williams mentioned that one coach in particular stuck out to his father from the rest during the recruitment: Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin.

“Lane Kiffin was fun," Carl said. "I liked Lane. It was going to be tough for us to go to Mississippi. Other guys were trying to put on a show. ‘You can change the trajectory of our program!’ Dude, we don’t care about your trajectory, the school colors and buildings. It’s who can get this kid ready for the NFL.”

Kiffin got his guy in the end in Jaxson Dart, but one can only imagine the hype around the Ole Miss program if he landed Williams in the transfer portal.

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