Caleb Williams was losing “board races” at Gonzaga College High School and he didn’t like it.
But Williams had to learn.
Those board races were run in spring meetings by Danny Schaechter, Gonzaga’s offensive coordinator at the time. Schaechter would signal in the call: personnel, formation and play.
Personnel Kings, Right Wide, Basketball, Boston, South
“It would be a race who could draw up all 11” on a dry-erase board, he said.
The quarterbacks had to know everyone’s assignments, the pass protection up front, the reads and more.
“The whole shebang,” Schaechter said.
The winning quarterback would then have to articulate it all — and do so against different coverages. Later on, other players were included in the meetings for the board races, adding more pressure.
“Caleb lost a lot,” Schaechter said.
Williams was an incoming freshman — a newcomer to Gonzaga, a Washington, D.C., football powerhouse. Two upperclassmen would be his competition. He had the arm talent and physical gifts to compete with them. But they knew the offense. He didn’t.
The same struggles happened during what Schaechter called “shadow walkthroughs” in which the quarterbacks would run plays by themselves against defensive calls and then explain their actions.
“The big differentiator is the mental side of the game,” Schaechter said. “He really took it to heart when he would lose four races and when he would get it wrong when it came to those shadow reps.”
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In time, though, Williams improved. Things clicked. He’d win one race. Then another. The shadow walkthroughs became smoother. The corrections became fewer.
“He was hungry for it,” Schaechter said. “He wanted to learn the X’s and O’s.”
He wanted to win.
At Gonzaga, you must show — earn — such things. Everyone must see it: the coaches, the players, the parents, the entire school. Williams did that.
“It’s rare that a freshman is going to be developed enough in a way physically and mentally and emotionally to be able to be a starter,” Gonzaga head coach Randy Trivers said. “And then when you add that on a quarterback, that’s another animal.”
Williams was different, though. That’s clear now. But what happened at Gonzaga carries over to today as Williams becomes the new face of the Chicago Bears. He became Gonzaga’s No. 1 quarterback as a freshman much like he became a starter in his first year at Oklahoma and will be the Bears’ starter as a rookie.
Quarterbacks Caleb Williams, left, Sam Sweeney and Jared Morson with offensive coordinator Danny Schaechter at Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C. (Courtesy of Danny Schaechter)
Sam Sweeney didn’t know what to think when he saw an incoming freshman at Gonzaga’s workouts and film sessions in mid-February. Typically, they showed up in the summer.
“It was Caleb,” Sweeney said. Williams joined after he was admitted to Gonzaga.
Sweeney and Williams had crossed paths at quarterback training sessions, but the personal interactions were few. Sweeney was a rising junior. It was his turn to compete at quarterback, his turn to start in the ultra-competitive Washington Catholic Athletic Conference, which has long been considered one of the best leagues in high school football.
Receiver John Marshall wanted to support Jared Morson, too. He was a close friend and also competing at quarterback. Everyone, though, was starting to talk about this incoming freshman.
“I just remember watching this kid launch the ball 60 yards … an eighth grader,” Marshall said. “I hadn’t seen something like that before.”
William’s plan to make the NFL was already in motion. Jalen McMurray, a defensive back in the same class as Williams at Gonzaga, experienced it firsthand as an original member of Williams’ 5:30 a.m. breakfast clubs that started working out on a soccer field when they were in grade school.
“When we would be doing one-on-ones, everyone would want Caleb to be their quarterback and throw to them,” said McMurray, a cornerback who now plays at Tennessee. “You could tell from a young age that he was a special kid.”
It wasn’t just the talent. It was the work he was putting in and how he handled it.
“He was just very mature, very calm,” Sweeney said. “Obviously, he was not perfect. No quarterback is at any level. But it was his eagerness to learn and be open to constructive criticism, whether it be from the coaches or from me and my other teammates.”
Sweeney was the starter for the summer practices and throughout seven-on-seven competitions, but Williams got first-team reps. Williams still lost board races. He was still corrected after shadow walkthroughs. There were missed throws and mistakes.
“He had a lot of really good productive struggles,” Schaechter said.
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Then came a seven-on-seven competition at Penn State against conference rival Good Counsel. Williams had not just caught up with his older competition. The freshman was about to pass them.
“He was just making all the throws, whether it was a laser beam or a layered throw or a beautiful deep ball that had to be put on the sideline and only our receiver could catch it and nobody else could,” Schaechter said. “On top of it, he was making good decisions, good reads, not turning the ball over. And then he was making those kinds of more oft-script throws. We’re just like, ‘Man, I can’t believe that a rising freshman is doing this right now.’”
In the first week of fall camp and with the pads on, Williams was elevated to the first team. For Sweeney, that wasn’t easy to accept at first. “As a 16-year-old, that’s tough to hear no matter what the situation is,” he said.
But something better formed. Williams and Sweeney became friends through their competition. Sweeney would become one of his favorite targets at receiver. They could be just “two dudes hanging out,” Sweeney said. Williams was one of the guys. You could make fun of him — for example, he wasn’t that good at basketball, Marshall said — and he’d fire right back. Sometimes he’d start it.
“He’s really just a normal guy who happens to be incredibly good at football,” said Sweeney, who went on to play lacrosse at Penn State. “He just has an unbelievable competitive spirit that I think really (earned) a lot of respect from the upperclassmen, both on the offensive side and defensive side. And that respect turned into friendships.”
In time, Williams would watch the Washington Capitals win the Stanley Cup with his older teammates. “A great D.C. sports moment,” Sweeney said. “He was going crazier than anyone else.” Williams would invite them to workouts at his father’s gym and even to hot yoga sessions. They all still text and talk with him.
“He couldn’t go anywhere and not fit in,” said Marshall, now a defensive back at Navy. “Even like people who didn’t play football or just random students at the school, he was even close with kids that he probably should have had no relationship with. He was well-liked and just like a lovable dude.”
Football is a metaphor for life.
Keep going. #DaBears pic.twitter.com/LoRuLi798e
— QB COLLECTIVE (@QBCollective) April 29, 2024
That didn’t change as his profile grew, either. With Williams as its freshman starter, Gonzaga reached the WCAC championship, losing to St. John’s College High School.
There were superstar flashes from Williams throughout the season. The scholarship offers from powerhouse programs came in after it. With each one, his teammates would “bow down” to him as a joke. That’s part of life in an all-boys school.
But expectations for Williams and Gonzaga increased for his sophomore year. And now they were all fueled by a title-game loss.
“He was just as emotional as some of the seniors,” Marshall said. “There’s a lot of underclassmen who aren’t showing emotion. And he was in the locker room and he’s crying with the seniors. He was super close to all of us even his freshman year. So he realized that if he was going to take that next step, he was going to have to become even more of a leader than he was.”
Caleb Williams, right, with his teammate John Marshall at Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C. (Courtesy of John Marshall)
Back-to-back games against St. John’s during Williams’ sophomore season required different game plans, new thinking. It’s one of the oldest rivalries in high school football. The first game would be their 97th meeting — and St. John’s was loaded with Division I recruits, undefeated that season and ranked third in the nation.
The first matchup was the regular-season finale in Week 10 — St. John’s won 34-17 — but the teams would still face each other the following week in the playoffs. Sweeney said Gonzaga players were told to think of it as an eight-quarter game. The rematch would be different. Gonzaga had a plan.
“We want to snap the ball with one to two seconds on the clock every single time,” Schaechter said. “We’re going to line up with either a fullback in the backfield or no back in the backfield. And the only guy who’s going to run the ball is Caleb.
“I was like, ‘Dude, I hope your body’s ready. I hope your mind and heart are ready. Because you’re the only guy who’s touching the ball unless you happen to throw it to somebody else.’ And he loved it.”
For Williams, his second year as a starter meant growing as a leader. That wasn’t easy at first. He was still a sophomore. Only seniors at Gonzaga could be voted captains. But he was the team’s starting quarterback. He had to lead with his play and voice.
“You could feel that all offseason, especially for him,” McMurray said. “You can see how focused he was, how determined he was to win. That’s something, if you know Caleb, he’s the ultimate competitor.”
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Williams’ toughness was not only tested against St. John’s, but it became one of the reasons Gonzaga hung with its rival on a cold and windy day. He lost a fumble that was returned for a touchdown by St. John’s in the second quarter, but he finished with 23 carries for 85 yards and a touchdown in the second half. He ran the ball like “a workhouse tailback,” Trivers said. He also completed 7 of 10 passes for 134 yards.
Williams did what it took to win. That’s what mattered most. It was everything.
“He savored it,” Schaechter said. “He craved it.”
“That was the first time I saw his true physical power that wasn’t just his arm,” Sweeney said.
Gonzaga’s plan worked. Linebacker Aaron Davis returned a fumble 95 yards in the fourth quarter to secure the 24-14 upset victory. But what Williams was able to do changed the game.
“It wasn’t pretty football at all, but it’s just the confidence in him to trust him with the ball and him to trust everyone else to make a lane … and do whatever was needed to get a first down and just march that ball down the field,” Sweeney said. “It was pretty, pretty special and unique. We thought that was the craziest game of our lives until, you know, a week later.”
Caleb Williams quarterbacked Gonzaga College High School to a conference championship in 2018. (Courtesy of Danny Schaechter)
In one of the wildest endings ever for a high school football game, Williams threw a winning Hail Mary pass to Marshall after time expired to give Gonzaga a 46-43 victory over DeMatha Catholic in the WCAC championship.
“It was a perfect pass,” Marshall said.
But a third-and-33 before it needs to be discussed more. For those who played and coached at Gonzaga, it’s just as memorable. Williams converted it on Gonzaga’s previous possession during what probably should have been a game-winning drive.
On second down, Williams was sacked trying to make a play — and he was down. He was in serious, awful pain.
“You see him laying on the ground, “Schaechter said, “and I’m on the headset, ‘Dude, you gotta get up. Get up, get up. If you stay down, they’re gonna pull you out.’”
“He gets up limping,” Sweeney added.
They didn’t know it at the time, but Williams had a broken foot. But there was a game to win, a legacy to make.
With the distance needed for the first down on the third-and-33, Sweeney and the other receivers had to adjust their routes — and Williams had to adjust his throw. It would take longer to convert. Gonzaga’s running back was the first read for Williams down the middle. But he was covered.
Williams got to Sweeney, who was running a corner route.
“I broke it off and looked up and that ball’s hanging right there — tight spiral,” Sweeney said.
“Perfect spot drop in the bucket,” Schaechter said. “And Sam Sweeney made an awesome catch. It was sick.”
First down. Game on.
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Williams would tell Sweeney days later that he was always going to target him on that play, despite him being later in the progression.
“That just shows the confidence and trust that we had in each other,” he said.
The duo later connected on the go-ahead touchdown for Gonzaga on that drive. It came after what Gonzaga thought was the winning score was waved off. Receiver Dean Engram was ruled out of bounds. They had to keep going.
Sweeney saw something, too. He was open over the middle. He told Williams to watch him on a quick slant, especially if the defense was in Cover 0 man coverage. DeMatha came out in exactly that. Safety Nick Cross — who later became a third-round pick of the Indianapolis Colts in 2022 — covered Sweeney. He had been spying Williams all game.
“Caleb caught the (snap), dipped like he was going to do almost a QB draw, and luckily that space is wide open,” Sweeney said. “He just put the ball in a place that only I could get it, pretty much right at my knees. Luckily I was able to catch it, make a play and kind of roll over the defender into the end zone.”
Gonzaga celebrated like it won the toughest conference in high school football. But the game wasn’t over. There were 29 seconds remaining. An encore from Williams would be required. DeMatha returned the ensuing squib kick for a touchdown — and then celebrated like it won the title.
“A lot of the seniors are upset on the sideline, myself included,” Marshall said. “He’s coming up to us. And he’s like, ‘We still have time left. … Keep your head up. … This is not how we’re gonna go out. … We got a chance. … We practiced this.’”
Gonzaga did that every week, Marshall said. Including in the days before the championship game. The team had a Hail Mary package. It had a plan and it had Williams.
“His energy flipped right to, ‘OK, here we are in this moment … and how am I going to help my team be triumphant?’” Trivers said.
On the decisive play, Williams bounced in the pocket to allow his receivers to get into the end zone as the final three seconds came off the clock. When he stepped into his pass — with his injured foot — he was on Gonzaga’s 41-yard line.
“I just remember the ball just being launched in the air and just coming straight into my vicinity, almost like there was nobody else out there and it was just me and him,” Marshall said.
Sweeney watched from the sideline.
“It felt like it was up there for a year,” he said. “And when it finally came back down, there’s a pile. You don’t know. But John Marshall was wearing white gloves. And I just remember seeing the white gloves.”
The ball was within them.
Touchdown.
Gonzaga won its first championship in 16 years — on Williams’ birthday.
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Different tests and triumphs awaited Williams in his following years at Gonzaga. He lost in the semifinals as a junior, and his senior season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But Gonzaga knew early on what it had in Williams: a program-changing quarterback.
“It was very clear this young kid had an inner faith and belief in his ability,” Trivers said. “So his body language, his tone, the way he handled himself, (it’s) what you need it at that position. You need somebody that, in the face of challenge and adversity, is going to be able to stand strong. You could see he had that quality about him. …
“Caleb was very self-confident, in terms of, ‘OK, I’m prepared, and I believe in what I can do. I’m not going to waver or falter, or wilt when challenged.’”
(Illustration by John Bradford / The Athletic;
photos: Gregory Shamus / Getty; courtesy of John Marshall and Danny Schaechter)
