The Athletic awards USC's Lincoln Riley, Caleb Williams ultimate honor

Chris Vannini and Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic just put out their 'College Sports 40 Under 40,' (subscription required) and put two USC Trojans on the list in Caleb Williams and Lincoln Riley. The '40 Under 40' recognizes the 'Top young coaches, players, execs, influencers changing the game.' That explains why the two were selected.

The two came over from the University of Oklahoma this offseason. One, Riley, of course came here to give USC its first elite head coach since the Pete Carroll days. The other, Williams, of course came here to be QB1. The two worked outstandingly together at OU for Williams' true freshman season, despite Williams not even being the starter until the second half of the season.

Williams averaged 9.1 yards per pass attempt last season and 5.6 yards per rush attempt with Riley last year--in a season where he wasn't even supposed to play. The two are great for each other. They'd probably each be on the 40 Under 40 list standing alone, but the two together is a true juggernaut. Williams had 27 total touchdowns last year in just half a season.

Lincoln Riley is considered to be the best offensive coach in America, which is terrific for USC Football QB Caleb Williams.

New USC Football Head Coach Lincoln Riley joins Caleb Williams on the list due to his already insane resume at age 38. Riley has been a head coach for five years, and has won Big 12 Championships in every single season except for one. He has finished in the top 10 in the country in every one of those five years. The most amount of losses he's ever had in a season is two.

He's known to run the best offensive system in the country--a system that NFL teams wanted him to come run for them even when he was just in his mid-30s. He's good for the game, and will be for many years to come. There are very few under 40 in college sports who mean as much to college sports as Riley does. The same can be said for Williams, a consensus top three QB in the country.

To have these two leading the program is massive. It doesn't get much better than this HC-QB combo USC has. It doesn't get much better than this on the field for SC, and the combo is clearly good for the game and college sports as a whole.