The USC Trojans have been out of College Football Playoff contention ever since the team suffered its second loss of the season against the Utah Utes last month. It led many to suggest that star quarterback Caleb Williams should leave the team for the rest of the season to protect himself from injury and preserve his draft stock, but he has stayed. And he explained that decision this week.
“If you go back, I’ve had a bunch of weird things happen throughout my career,” Caleb Williams said. “Whether it was coach coming here my freshman year and kind of sticking it out. So, I would say just the nature of how I was raised and being around these guys all year round. I work out with them all year round. We run, lift, we go out and have fun together, we enjoy each other’s presence. So, it means the world to me to be able to end this season off and this regular season, things like that, being with these guys.”
Williams acknowledges that he could have left and that he has a decision to make regarding his future after this season, but he was always planning to stay with his team throughout the season no matter what.
“Yeah, I have the opportunity to leave. Yeah, I have the opportunity to forgo, but that was never really the thought process of kind of leaving these guys behind and forgoing those last three to four games. So, I was going to stick it out with these guys regardless of whatever decision I was gonna make.”
Still, that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been disappointing for Williams. Not only has USC been eliminated from playoff contention, but they have also been eliminated from Pac-12 title contention, and Williams no longer has a shot at the Heisman Trophy.
“It’s weird, like you said,” Williams said. “I haven’t played much, my whole career playing ball, where I’m not at the end of the season and have a chance to go to the championship or whatever the case may be. It’s a weird feeling, it’s tough. It’s tough to lose and tough to not be in the position to win championships, which you train super hard for years to be in position to win championships.”
It’s safe to say that things haven’t gone the way he expected this season, but he’s sticking it out with his team anyway.
[On3]
