Counting Down Cal's Top-50 Transfer Athletes: No. 4 Nohl Williams

The transfer portal era in college athletics seems like it’s been with us forever. Likewise, most fans can recall less turbulent times when transfers happened, they simply didn’t look like a stampede to the 1849 California Gold Rush.

We thought it was time to rank the best transfers Cal teams have attracted, most of them in recent seasons but also including a few OGs from yesteryear.

We limited our ranking to transfers from four-year colleges.

Here is the next athlete in our countdown:

4. Nohl Williams

Sport: Football

Arrival year at Cal: 2023-24

Previous schools: UNLV (Had five interceptions and five pass breakups for the Rebels in three seasons through 2022)

Contributions at Cal:

— A 6-foot, 180-pounder, Williams was a two-year starter at cornerback for the Bears, maintaining Cal’s tradition of strong defensive backfield play in recent years.

— As a junior in the fall of 2023, he had 53 tackles, two interceptions, four pass breakups and a 52-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the Bears’ 42-39 victory over Washington State. It was his second straight game with a fumble return for a TD.

— He triggered a spectacular senior year in the 2024 season opener by returning a kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown, giving the Bears a 14-13 lead over UC Davis on the way to a 31-13 victory.

— Williams also had an interception against Davis, and went on to secure six picks in the Bears’ first six games on the way to an FBS-leading seven for the season, giving him 14 for his five seasons in college, nine of them with the Bears. His seven interceptions in ‘24 are tied for the seventh-most by a Cal player in a single season.

— Williams finished his senior campaign with 52 tackles and a total of nine passes defended (interceptions plus pass breakups) to earn first-team All-ACC and consensus All-America honors. He had four touchdowns in his Cal career — one via interception, one on a kickoff return and two on fumble returns.

— He was chosen in the third round of the 2025 NFL draft by the Kansas City Chiefs, where he saw action in all 17 gaes as a rookie, starting five times, including the team's final four games of the season.

Standout performance: Williams had two interceptions and Cal forced five turnovers in a 21-14 road victory over Auburn in front of a capacity crowd of 88,043 fans at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Week 2 of the 2024 season. It was the Bears' fourth victory over an SEC opponent in their past five meetings.

Impact on his team: Williams and the Cal defense limited their opponents to 17 points or fewer in the first six games of the 2024 season, but a 3-0 start dissolved and the Bears were just 6-6 before losing 24-13 to UNLV — Williams’ original school — in the LA Bowl.

Previously on our list:

No. 5: Blaine Scully

No. 17: Michael Wolger

No. 18: Charlie Wi

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