Lincoln Riley knows how the Pac-12 quarterbacks are discussed and where Caleb Williams fits in that group.

The reigning Heisman Trophy winner is back for another season at USC, and at Pac-12 Media Day on Friday, Riley shared about Williams’ growth since he transferred from Oklahoma.

“He’s obviously been a key factor in this from a lot of different ways,” Riley said. “Last year, he obviously did a great job and was important for our program, but also I think for his learning and his growth, it was a great situation for him to be in as well, where he was challenged to not only play a full season, but to lead and to really help jump-start a program, and to jump-start an offense, jump-start a culture.”

Riley knows he has a great quarterback and will play a lot of great quarterbacks this season.

“There’s nobody else in the country that I’d rather go to war with than that guy,” Riley said. “His toughness, his ability to lead, his ability despite any of the good things that have happened for him or his teams, his ability to want to climb and to get better and the hunger to do that, is very apparent on a day-to-day basis.”

Riley noted that great quarterbacks are defined by team success and championships and Williams is excited to close out this year with both.