Lincoln Riley: 'Hell No' I Won't Follow Caleb Williams to NFL; I'm Going to Coach USC | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

USC head coach Lincoln Riley has no intention of following his quarterback to the NFL in 2024.

Riley responded when asked if an NFL team offers him the chance to coach Caleb Williams next season, per The Athletic's Antonio Morales:

"Hell no. No. I'm coaching at SC. Period. I didn't come here for some short-term thing and as long as SC continues to give us the support and the things we need to continue to build this, this was not a two-year rebuild. No. I'm going to be the coach at SC. Period. End of discussion. I'm so committed to this place because I know what it can be. And if that commitment continues to get matched around us, we're going to do what we've got to do in here and make the adjustments, make the tough decisions, push on the good, own the bad, fix the bad. We're in it through all the twists and turns and I wanted to make sure people knew that and the more people we have with that same attitude, the faster this thing's going to get back to normal."

Williams is considered one of the top quarterbacks available in the 2024 draft class alongside the likes of UNC's Drake Maye, and he'll likely be selected in the top 10 and perhaps in the top five.

The 22-year-old has played his entire college career with Riley as his head coach. He started his career at Oklahoma in 2021 and followed Riley to USC ahead of the 2022 campaign. Riley coached the Sooners from 2017-2021.

Williams went on to win the Heisman Trophy last season after completing 66.6 percent of his passes for 4,537 yards and 42 touchdowns against five interceptions, in addition to rushing fro 382 yards and 10 scores.

The NFL hopeful is also in the midst of another solid season, completing 68.6 percent of his passes for 3,633 yards and 30 touchdowns against five interceptions, in addition to rushing for 142 yards and 11 scores.

Despite Williams' best effort, the Trojans finished the season 7-5, mainly because the defense was one of the worst in all of college football.

USC's finish to the campaign resulted in speculation that Riley might follow Williams to the NFL if given the opportunity, but now that he has declared his intention to remain in California, he'll be hoping to improve his squad next year with a new quarterback under center.