Caleb Williams Blog: Preparing for Elite 11 Finals, Fireworks to Come
Caleb Williams is the top quarterback prospect in the 2021 class with scholarship offers from elite programs coast to coast. He has agreed to give Sports Illustrated exclusive access into his world by chronicling everything from his experience as a high profile recruit to his home life and preparation for his senior season. This is 'All on the Line.'
Hey guys, welcome back to another week of Caleb Williams: All on the Line!
For this week, Father's Day just happened so happy belated Father's Day to all the dads and those who step in as dads. Myself, I'm very fortunate to have a father in my life. For all those other kids with father figures in our lives, we're very fortunate. Not everybody has that father figure.
I'm also grateful for my grandfather, my father and the coaches in my life. I do have female coaches, but today mainly speaking for the male coaches -- I'm very grateful for them. Also the uncles that step in and all these men who deserve a large thank you for stepping into my life and other young men's lives around the country.
We thank all of you.
Going into the football aspect, Elite 11! Elite 11 has been around for -- I don't know the exact year -- but a lot of really good quarterbacks that have competed were good in college, were good in the pros. They can go down the list of No. 1 Draft picks, who's been to camp, first rounders, on and on.
For me, the Elite 11 means I get to compete against the other quarterbacks that I have not competed against yet. Or others I haven't performed with, which I've been trying to do for a good little while now.
Going through the process of getting to the Elite 11 -- it's not just another camp where you show up, give your name, get a number and go out there and show your talents. The coaches there, the instructors, are very precise for who they've chosen. They're very detailed, they've looked through film, social media, and kind of picked the best guys that they believe are the best overall so we can go out there and perform. Also to be men off the field.
The Elite 11 process is a lot more than I thought. I've had videos I've had to do, I've had essays, pictures, questionnaires, just a lot more than I thought. Shout out to Dont'e Thornton, Keith Boddie, Jr., Austin Ennis Justin Anderson for working with me [see above video], my mentor Russell Thomas and my coaches from the QBFactory.
It's totally fine, because I wanted to be a part of the fraternity of Elite 11 quarterbacks. I've chosen this path and I'm going to do whatever I have to do to make sure I'm a part of it -- and hopefully, you know, go out there and win.
One of the questions I was asked is, 'why would you be involved given all that you have accomplished?' My response was, I just like to compete with the best. Competition makes you betters. Even if I don't win, which I'm planning on going down there to do, competition definitely makes you better over time. I've had competition here at Gonzaga and it's made me better more than I can even say or give credit to.
Competition makes me better I love competing and ultimately winning. That's really my goal. Competing, learning and WINNING.
Normally, as everybody knows or if you don't know, Elite 11 is usually in Oregon or it's in Dallas, Texas at The Star, the big dome. This year it's in Nashville, Tenn. so we can stay healthy through this process of going through the Elite 11. The quarterbacks, players and families going, we're all aware of the precautions that we have to take in going to this camp. That's what we're all doing, making sure we're healthy and strong traveling and going through it for a few days.
Fireworks coming soon.
Alright guys, signing off here once again, Caleb Williams: All on the Line. Make sure you're staying positive through these tough times, staying healthy and strong.
Make sure you wash your hands.
All on the Line: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 | Week 13 | Week 14 | Week 15 | Week 16
Twitter: @CALEBcsw
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*Videos courtesy of Caleb Williams