Former Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Caleb Williams — the No. 7 overall rated player in the 2021 recruiting class — was one of the most sought-after players in the NCAA transfer portal this winter.

Williams entered the transfer portal in early January, just a little over a month after Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma to become the USC Trojans' new head coach.

After checking out programs for most of January, Williams settled on USC on February 1 (which reunites Williams with Riley).

Williams' father, Carl, spoke to Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger this week about his son's transfer decision.

Carl told Dellenger that his son seriously considered three programs during the transfer process — USC, UCLA, and Wisconsin.

Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss, who were in need of a quarterback with Matt Corral off to the NFL, heavily pursued Williams. But the Rebels didn't make the final cut for the elite quarterback.

(The Rebels eventually landed former USC quarterback Jaxon Dart.)

Williams' father was actually a big fan of Kiffin during the transfer process.

“Lane Kiffin was fun. I liked Lane," said Carl Williams to Sports Illustrated.

So why didn't Ole Miss make the final cut for Caleb?

Well, because it's Ole Miss. And Carl doesn't view the Rebels as a marquee program.

“It was going to be tough for us to go to Mississippi," said Carl. "Other guys were trying to put on a show. ‘You can change the trajectory of our program!’ Dude, we don’t care about your trajectory, the school colors, and buildings. It’s who can get this kid ready for the NFL.”

I don't really think this is fair to Ole Miss — Kiffin is sending Corral to the NFL as a likely first-round draft pick. He's known as a quarterback guru, whether he's at Tennessee, USC, Alabama, or Ole Miss. The coaching from Kiffin is the same, regardless of what program employs him.

But fair or not, that's how Ole Miss is viewed by Williams and his family.

And that could be a major reason why Kiffin looks to leave Ole Miss in the coming years (there were already rumors this offseason that he showed interest in the Florida and Miami jobs, among others).

If Kiffin is loved by recruits and parents, but he's missing out on elite players because he coaches for Ole Miss and not a more prestigious program, well that could be a major problem for the former Tennessee Vols head coach. I don't think Kiffin is going to be alright with missing on elite players just because he wears a powder blue shirt.

Kiffin has also complained — loudly at times — about NIL spending in college football. It sounds like he'd rather be at a program like Texas A&M that's committed to spending upwards of $25 million on a single recruiting class.

Ole Miss finished 10-3 in 2021 — the best regular season in program history. That's a great sign for the Rebels moving forward. Even more success should be on the way. Kiffin, however, could view that as the ceiling for the program.

Kiffin is too competitive to stay at a place where he feels there's a ceiling on success. He's going to continue to do his best to win big with the Rebels, but he's going to keep looking for greener pastures at the same time.

Featured image via Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports