Five-star Caleb Williams isn’t letting the COVID-19 pandemic and recruiting dead period slow down his recruitment. The quarterback Washington (D.C.) Gonzaga announced his top five a little over a month ago but now he’s trimmed his list of contenders down to three. Oklahoma, LSU, and Maryland are still in the running to sign both Williams and his father, Carl, took a few minutes to explain why each school remains in contention and how the phase of his recruitment is going to unfold.
IN HIS OWN WORDS...
“These final three schools I feel are the best for me because I've built such a good relationship with these coaches over time,” Williams said. “I feel like they can help me make myself better. The fan bases, what they what they bring to the school and how much they support the team is great. The family aspects of these schools I feel like is the closest that I could get to a Gonzaga type of vibe.
“Coach Riley and I have a good relationship,” he said. “This past week or so he went with his family on a fishing trip so we haven't really been communicating much lately but we have in the past. He's having some family time.
“I’ve been getting a good impression from the LSU coaches,” said Williams. “They're really not trying to change anything. They're saying that what they did last year is who they are. That's a good sign of them believing in what they did last year, even with these new coaches coming in and trying to do the same thing. I get a good vibe from them. Hopefully we can build this relationship more.
“I’ve known coach Ensminger for a while now so that relationship is pretty good,” he said. “My relationship with coach O is pretty good too. It's the same thing for a few of the other coaches on staff but the new coaches, my relationship with the new coaches has been building a lot. They've been describing what they're going to do, how they're going to try to win another National Championship, and the high caliber offense they're going to have next year.
“With Maryland it's really about whether they're going to be able to win if I go there,” Williams said. “The main goal is to win championships and get a ring. I definitely think if I went there I could help bring in more guys. I think if I went there the impact would definitely pretty strong.
“I don't know how far off a commitment is,” he said. “It'll probably be before school starts. I think me and Mario (Williams) are going to one of these schools together.”
WHAT HIS FATHER SAYS...
“These are his final three,” said Carl Williams. “We've seen everything at Oklahoma. We know the school and met with the president of school so there isn't anything left to show us about the school. It's really just Caleb continuing to develop the relationship with Lincoln Riley and it's been going really really well.
“They (LSU) started doing the same stuff,” he said. “They started doing it (building a relationship) on Zoom. We just we had their whole offensive staff on the phone with us last week. They plan to do it again this week and I guess for the foreseeable future. They're going to do their thing and work to build a relationship. I've been very clear with everybody that now it's about how you connect with the kid and can you teach him. Everybody learns differently right so it's about how the coaches connect with them, who is the best quarterback whisperer, who reaches him the best, and teaches him the game the best. That's really where it is.
“(With Maryland) it is the relationship that he has had with Scottie Montogmery since he was 10 or 12 years old when he started out at a Duke camp,” said the elder Williams. “Scottie has kept in touch with him all these years no matter where he was. It's also his relationship with Mike Locksley.
“They (Maryland) are in the final three so they have momentum but how you get over the hump now is really about the connection,” he said. “The school has done a great job with their physical facilities. They've done a great job with bringing in a good coaching staff and the beginnings of building the depth that you need to compete on a national level. At the end of the day, the goal it to be the first pick in the NFL Draft. He's got to have that quarterback whisperer. He's got to have that relationship with a guy that will help him get there.”
On the decision timeline: “It really depends on if we're going to be allowed to get back on campuses before August,” Carl Williams said. “We're going to do a decision before school starts no matter what. If we get back on campuses, the first available date we're going to be there to look people in the eye, figure out if it's the right place and knock it out.
“Probably the priority would be to get to LSU to find out if he has that connection,” he said. “You can't get married over the telephone. You have to go and see if the love is there and really feel if it's real. If it is, that's a different story. That is the thing for LSU. He had a relationship with (Joe) Brady and (Jorge) Munoz and those guys are gone so who's going to be there and how stable is that situation going to be? If they win this year and they do a great job on offense are those guys going to the NFL too or are they going to stay? Those are questions that you have to look guys in the eye to know. That's a big part of it right now. You don't want to go to a place to prepare and have to learn three or four different offenses.
“There are a bunch of four or five stars around the country that are waiting for him to see what he wants to do,” Williams said. “We're not going to hold up those kids but we have to get through the COVID-19 stuff.”
RIVALS' REACTION...
Oklahoma is the favorite to land Williams’ commitment so it shouldn’t be a surprise to see the Sooners land in his top three. He has visited the Norman campus a few times and has raved about how well he clicks with head coach Lincoln Riley. Williams has said multiple times in the past that he feels like he is a good fit in any college system but it sounds like the transition to Riley’s offense would be seamless. Certainly, the recent trend of high quality quarterback play under Riley is working in Oklahoma’s favor with Williams.
Williams had been trending towards LSU while former offensive assistant Joe Brady was in Baton Rouge but the change to Scott Linehan has set the Tigers back a bit. Williams still feels very good about how successful he could be at LSU and knows the offense would be productive with him at the helm but getting more comfortable with the new coaches on Ed Orgeron’s staff has been the point of emphasis lately. That hasn’t been an impossible task during this recruiting dead period but is more difficult than it would normally be. The Tigers need to get Williams back on campus to try to regain the momentum.
If there is a “dark horse” in Williams’ recruitment it would be Maryland. The Terps have doing a great job recruiting local talent under head coach Mike Locksley and he’s been laying the groundwork with Williams for the last few years. Williams is very close with Locksley, offensive coordinator Scottie Montgomery, dozens of other staff members, current players, and some of the players that are committed to Maryland. The longer Williams’ recruitment goes on, the better for Maryland as they try to show him that the Terps will be a very successful program in the next few years.
