In his first comments since USC hired Lincoln Riley as the program's new head football coach, interim coach Donte Williams praised the hire but sidestepped questions about what it means for his own future.
"Shoot, I always told you that the administration at USC would do the right thing and they made a splash hire. Bright, bright, bright future for USC football going ahead. Congratulations to Coach Riley. Like I say, USC, it's only up from here. That is the truth," Williams said after practice Tuesday. "I know they're going to recruit the right way, I know they're going to play games the right way and we'll see where all that's going. But for right now, our main focus is about Cal. We still do have a game this week, we owe it to these kids that's out here that's practicing, competing every day to make sure we get their best out of them and they get the best out of us. And that's what we're gonna do."
Williams was pressed as to whether his use of "they" in talking about the Trojans' future was an indication he didn't expect to be back.
"It has nothing to do with me. Right now my main focus is all about Cal and only Cal. I'll focus on everything else after this particular ball game," he said. "Otherwise, I'm cheating these guys, I'm cheating these kids, I'm cheating these coaches."
Williams said he had not been informed about his status beyond this week.
"I haven't even asked about that, I do not want to be informed. All I care about right now is making sure we handle Cal. Everything for me is about Cal, trust me," he said. "That's where my main focus is, that's where my focus will stay. I don't want it to swindle at all any other direction. All day I sit in here and watch film on Cal, offense, defense and special teams and make sure we're fully prepared to play them."
Asked if he wanted to remain on staff under Riley ...
"That's kind of like a trick question there. I mean, this is a great place, this is home for me. So right now once again I'm still focused on Cal," he said.
Williams took over the Trojans when Clay Helton was fired after two games. USC has gone 3-6 under Williams, but certainly the issues of this team existed prior to his promotion.
He has been USC's top recruiter the last two years and many within the fan base would like to see him remain on staff to continue impacting the roster-building efforts, but it's unclear if Williams would be content returning to a position coach role (he coached the CBs) after leading the program for two and a half months.
Also, Riley could elect to bring aboard Oklahoma cornerbacks coach Roy Manning, who coached under new USC defensive coordinator Alex Grinch at both Washington State and OU.
Williams and Riley spent some time together on Monday prior to the press conference to introduce the new head coach. Riley was non-committal when asked after that formal introduction whether he would consider keeping any current staff, saying he would evaluate.
Williams, meanwhile, shared more thoughts on Riley and Grinch.
"He's a great guy. Someone who I knew for a while now and that won't change. He's always been someone that I admired from afar. His offenses always put up great numbers, his teams always played well," Williams said. "Coach Grinch's defense has always played well. So great football coaches, great minds, great people. So I mean, I have nothing but positivity to say about them."
