Lincoln Riley reveals how he coaches Caleb Williams: 'It's a great responsibility'
Lincoln Riley is in a unique position of coaching a reigning Heisman Trophy winner who didn’t already leave for the NFL.
The USC coach discussed his approach with Caleb Williams during a conversation with Greg McElroy. Does he have to nit-pick Williams’ play?
“I think it’s fun, I think it’s a great responsibility when you get a chance to coach guys that are really talented, who have had some success early on in their career,” Riley said. “The thing we stress with Caleb, and it’s not like we’re having to create buy-in, he’s very bought in. For guys like him, he’s probably got a 10- to 15-year window in terms of the amount of football left. You’re on a big climb. You’re going to have individual goals along the way, individual seasons. This isn’t golf, you only get to play this so long, and you better capitalize on those years.”
Riley said there will be challenges because football changes and evolves. Some of them are known, but others are unknown, such as weather and injuries.
“You’re constantly trying to build yourself up to get ready for the different challenges that come up and that’s been our mentality with him and a lot to improve on and its a fun guy to coach,” Riley said.