Dylan Raiola, Daniel Kaelin have ‘bright future’

Under the watchful eye of co-offensive coordinators Marcus Satterfield and Glenn Thomas, Nebraska’s three scholarship quarterbacks threw pass after pass.

During the 20-minute portion of Nebraska’s Thursday practice that was open to reporters, the quarterbacks’ efforts remained simple, but their last few days have been anything but that.

Particularly for freshmen Dylan Raiola and Daniel Kaelin, who’d still be high school seniors if not for their decision to graduate and enroll early, a two-month offseason represented a crash course in learning how to be a collegiate quarterback.

When Nebraska finally hit the practice field this week, their knowledge was put to the test — and head coach Matt Rhule likes what he’s seen so far.

“Dylan (Raiola) and Daniel (Kaelin) have done a great job of preparing within this offense,” he said. “I think they know what to do, they know where to go with the football, they’re on time, they’re savvy and they’re smart, so I’ve been really, really pleased. You can see what a bright future they both have.”

According to Rhule, Raiola and Kaelin’s status as “tremendous competitors” has led to plenty of growth when Nebraska has often split into three separate teams for a stretch of offense vs. defense competition near the end of its practices.

An even larger factor in both players’ ability to hit the ground running was the high school football programs they played for. With Raiola completing his high school career at a nationally recognized program in Buford, Georgia, and Kaelin in the spread-style offense run by Bellevue West, both players learned how to deal with high expectations, Rhule said.

That meant when they arrived at a Nebraska program with similarly high expectations, they weren’t caught off guard.

“I think the biggest thing you’re looking for in high school quarterbacks is, you don’t want guys that are just seven-on-seven guys,” Rhule said. “You want guys who can make a play with the ball in their hands, you want guys who can take a hit, you want guys who can play the game of football and both these guys have it.”

While Raiola and Kaelin’s growth will command plenty of attention from coaches and fans alike, neither player took the first snap of the spring as Nebraska’s starting quarterback. That role belonged to junior Heinrich Haarberg, an eight-game starter for the Huskers in 2023.

Rhule previously mentioned that Haarberg spent the offseason working on his throwing motion, adding Thursday that Haarberg has done well to master the different offensive concepts he learned a year ago.

Even for high-flyers like Raiola and Kaelin, that process will take time.

Their teammates who’ve been through a previous spring under Rhule know that players will look differently after practice 15 than they did after practice one or two — and that’s one reason why junior tight end Thomas Fidone is excited about Nebraska’s quarterbacks.

“Coming in as freshmen, I think both of them have handled the speed of the game at this level very well,” Fidone said.

On the other side of the field, Raiola had already left an impression on senior linebacker John Bullock. Asked to identify any offensive players who’d impressed him thus far, Raiola’s name was one of the first Bullock mentioned, adding that “you can tell the talent he has.”

So, how does Rhule envision his quarterback room looking after the spring ends? Whether Nebraska has a starter or not, he expects Haarberg, Raiola and Kaelin to be ready to step in and play at a high level.

“I’m expecting them … to be ready to start,” Rhule said. “We have three quarterbacks on scholarship, I need three quarterbacks who can start.”

The intensity of Nebraska’s competitive efforts is sure to increase over the next four weeks of spring practice, with Rhule expecting a big response from his quarterbacks when it’s all said and done.

“We need to be in a position where we feel like those guys can start at the end of spring and move the team,” he said. “That’s why we’re doing the three fields and all the things that we’re doing; we’re not dipping our toe in.”