Behind the one aspect Lincoln Riley says drives new Chicago Bears QB Caleb Williams

Lincoln Riley has been around Caleb Williams for a while.

Riley recruited Williams out of Gonzaga College High School in the Class of 2021, coached him at Oklahoma and convinced Williams to follow him to USC.

On Thursday, Riley watched as Williams officially left his purview as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears.

Spending some time around one person tells you who they are; Riley spent the last three years around Williams and he'll be the first to tell you about his demeanor.

"He’s not scared for greatness," Riley said on a Zoom call with reporters on Friday. "He’s not scared to be himself. You have to have that belief in the people around you."

That absence of fear carried him multiple times in his college career. It'll carry him into the next level as he ascends to the NFL with the Chicago Bears.

Some will see the lack of fear and mistake it for arrogance. Williams knows this. He acknowledged it earlier during his introduction at Halas Hall.

"Why would I go somewhere, work so hard for so many years and then in every situation I go to believe I’m the best, and then I get here and I don’t believe that?" Williams said earlier during his introduction on Friday. "That doesn’t mean that I go around and boast. That doesn’t mean that I go around and say that. But the way I handle my work, the way I carry myself every day, how I treat my friends, family, teammates, the faculty, the executives here, the custodians, whatever the case may be – treat everybody as they are, we’re all equal and everybody should think that they’re the best when you do things and you work so hard for stuff."

That mentality didn't exist overnight. Williams began forging it himself when he decided over a decade ago he wanted to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft as a kid.

Caleb and his dad, Carl, had a plan and put it into motion early. It even impressed one of the best coaches in college football.

"Every step of theirs has been very intentional, very well-thought-out," Riley said of the Williams' family plan.

Riley recalled what impressed him so much as a high school player. It wasn't the game-winning Hail Mary throws, although those are impressive enough.

Riley knew Williams was a great athlete already. There was a long period of time between sessions where Riley saw Williams throw live. 

When he did, Riley noticed how quickly and greatly Williams improved as a thrower

.

Once Williams got on campus at Oklahoma, he was behind incumbent starting quarterback Spencer Rattler. That is, however, until the Red River Rivalry game. Williams came into that game and engineered a massive comeback to stun the Longhorns.

That's when Williams true absence of fear showed on a stage with some of the brightest lights. It convinced Riley there was something special in Willaims.

"Obviously, having the calm and the guts to come into the Texas game when he did," Riley said, "you knew at that point there was definitely something special."

This continued at USC. Williams followed Riley to Los Angeles and energized a downtrodden Trojans program. 

In one year, USC went from a 4-8 regular season to 11-1 in 2023. The 2023 regular season was capitalized by a game that stuck with Riley: a 47-24 win over Notre Dame.

Williams, who holds a phenomenal memory, recalled Thursday evening there were USC players in that locker room who had never beaten Notre Dame. That made Williams take the rivalry personally.

"I remember him being very calm. Very in command," Riley said.

Williams dazzled that night, and had a Heisman Trophy moment when he eluded numerous Irish pass rushers for a massive gain. The win kept USC in the hunt for the College Football Playoff.

"It was just an important game," Riley said. "He played really well, was pretty much in control the entire night. Our team really kind of hit their stride."

Williams' 7-5 season at USC in 2023 still resonates in him with a stinging sensation. That was the closest he's ever been to a losing record in football.

It was still a turnaround USC fans enjoyed, as the Trojans won seven games or more in two of the last three full seasons before Williams arrived in Los Angeles. The Trojans went 5-1 in 2020, but that season was shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a USC program that has seen All-American quarterbacks like Matt Leinart and Carson Palmer, Riley lauded what Williams did in his two seasons at USC which occurred in a vastly different era than the Leinarts and Palmers.

"The world has changed a lot since those guys played," Riley said. "Doing what he did in this city in this era, there’s still an unprecedented feel to it."

Williams wants to win. He made that clear. He wants to challenge Tom Brady's NFL record seven Super Bowl wins, and eventually own it by winning eight rings.

If he wants to do that early in his career, Williams will have to take a team that's had a recent history of well-documented struggles and lift that team to success.

Riley pointed out Williams does have a history of that.

"There’s a lot of parallels with what he’s getting ready to go and do in Chicago," Riley said.