Should Caleb Williams stay in school? USC students weigh in

GQ Sports published an article Wednesday that asked if Caleb Williams should stay at USC for a third year. Annenberg Media asked USC students the same question.

“That’d be pretty exciting,” said Talia Wexler, a freshman journalism major. “I know he’s a widely acclaimed athlete and it’s pretty awesome to go to a school with somebody who is so well known for their talents.”

Though Wexler and some freshmen alike haven’t had many opportunities to see Williams play live, she said, “having another year to watch [Williams] would be awesome.” Wexler added that Williams is “a key player for our team and Trojan football wouldn’t be Trojan football without him.”

Logan Murphy, a masters student studying cybersecurity and engineering, said he loved the idea of Williams’ return.

“It’s a great thing when you have a Heisman Trophy level quarterback at any time coming back to a great program,” he said. “Obviously, you want to see a guy succeed, so ...I think it would be more of a situation where he would go in the NFL. If it’s a poorly run franchise ... it’s more incentive for him to come back here.”

Williams’ father, Carl Williams, raised some of the same concerns.

“The system is completely backwards,” Williams told GQ. “The way the system is constructed, you go to the worst possible situation. The worst possible team, the worst organization in the league—because of their desire for parity—gets the first pick.”

Williams’ father went on to offer an alternative. “If there’s not a good situation, [...] the truth is, he can come back to school.” Adding intrigue to the narrative, Caleb Williams retweeted the GQ article on X, formerly known as Twitter, giving USC fans a bit of hope.

Lando Chabolla, a freshman studying health and human science, explained that he is “excited to have [Williams] come back, hopefully.”

Chabolla said he feels, “like [the Big-10 is] more of a challenge. There’s more dominant schools there [...] I feel as if that could have a lot of sway into it, too.”

“Personally, if I was him, I would go to the draft just because the money’s there and he can also start his career early before he gets too old,” Chabolla added.

Williams hinted at a possible return through his gratefulness to the university.

“USC has been good to me, I can’t lie,” said Williams referring to the lucrative NIL deals he’s inked since becoming a star in Los Angeles. “It just opened more doors.”

The article honors Williams as “The New King of College Football,” but how long will his reign last?