Lincoln Riley's surprising non-Caleb Williams connection to Chicago Bears

Eyebrows were raised on Sunday when Chicago Bears' rookie quarterback Caleb Williams casually name-dropped his college football head coach when talking about the support he had received while in the middle of his rookie-season struggles.

Williams told the Bears' beat that Lincoln Riley was among the people who reached out to him last week to express their support. Of course, Riley has been intertwined with Williams' career. After recruiting Williams to Oklahoma, Riley became the head coach of USC in 2022. Williams followed his head coach to the Trojans.

MUST READ: Caleb Williams was no fan of Shane Waldron.

The timing of Riley reaching out to Williams is interesting if nothing else. While there is no doubt that college coaches check in on their players who transitioned to the NFL from time to time, Riley reaching out to Williams comes at a time when Matt Eberflus's fate as the Bears' head coach is all but sealed. It also comes at a time when Riley's status as the head coach of the Trojans has come into question.

As both the Bears and Riley may wonder what lies ahead for them after this season, there is an interesting connection between the two sides. Riley is represented by Trace Armstrong.

Armstrong has become the powerbroker of the Bears' organization. Armstrong is the current agent for Bears' general manager Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus. Beyond the general manager and head coach, Armstrong also represented former Bears' offensive coordinators Luke Getsy and Shane Waldron.

If we're being honest, there isn't a scenario where Riley should be considered as a candidate to replace Eberflus as the Bears' head coach. In fact, part of the reason why Williams' character was questioned before being selected by the Bears was due to how Riley handled the quarterback at USC.

But, the problem is that as long as Armstrong is lurking in the background, moves that have no logic remain on the table.