USC coach Lincoln Riley shines light on transfer portal change with Caleb Williams comparison

Lincoln Riley is entering his fifth season with USC. Riley has yet to bring the Trojans a title, but expect to contend in 2026. Expectations for Riley and USC were immediately high when he took over, leaving Oklahoma, where he had found success. Further, he brought with him his quarterback, Caleb Williams.

Now, Riley is looking back on bringing Williams with him to USC, and how much the transfer portal has changed, according to Daniel Hager of On3.

“When Caleb [Williams] made the choice to come to SC, we got destroyed over that. Now, 30 guys from Iowa State go to Penn State, nobody gives a s***. However many guys from James Madison to Indiana, nobody cares,” Riley said. “It’s interesting how much of that has changed.”

It is becoming common for players to follow their coach. When Williams left Oklahoma for USC, following his coach, he was just one of two players ranked in the top-20 in the portal rankings to follow their coach. The other was O’Cyrus Torrence, who followed Billy Napier to Florida.

This year, five of the top-20 players in the transfer portal followed their former head coach. Meanwhile, Iowa State just lost 23 players to Penn State, as Matt Campbell left the Cyclones for the Nittany Lions. Alex Golesh brought 13 players from USF to Auburn.

The transfer portal opened in 2018, but still had the sit-out rule when a player transferred not as a graduate transfer. In 2021, the sit-out rule was eliminated, giving first-time transfers the ability to play immediately for their new school.

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