As familiar as the road to Nebraska was for Dylan Raiola growing up in a legacy household, the path toward becoming the highest-rated quarterback to ever sign with the Cornhuskers featured several detours.
The high-profile chase for the former five-star included an early commitment to Ohio State, a near flip to USC, and a subsequent pledge to Georgia before Huskers coach Matt Rhule reeled in his most important recruit at the finish line last December.
Only the second Husker true freshman to start a season opener since World War II, Raiola was surgical against UTEP in his debut to earn Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors and garner national attention heading into Saturday’s rivalry game versus Colorado (7:30 pm ET).
Nebraska — and its fan base — endured a long, winding journey to arrive at this stage.
The early commitment
Nearly three years ago on a late October night in Columbus, a then-sophomore Raiola walked into the Horseshoe where he watched C.J. Stroud throw for more than 300 yards to defeat Penn State. It was a memorable weekend considering that earlier on the visit Raiola, who himself was putting up huge numbers at Burleson (Texas), picked up a scholarship offer from the Buckeyes.
The likes of Alabama, Georgia, Texas and Nebraska, where Raiola’s father, Dominic, became a Rimington Award winner before a 14-year career in the NFL with the Detroit Lions, were on the offer sheet already.
Yet that up-close look at Ohio State — the atmosphere inside Ohio Stadium, the effectiveness and precision of the offense under Stroud, the upward trajectory of the program — carried deeper significance. About seven months later, Raiola blew out the candles on his 17th birthday and announced a commitment to the Buckeyes.
That pledge lasted just half a year, though, as Raiola reopened his recruitment a week ahead of Christmas in 2022.
The sharks immediately circled the waters.
Georgia was on a dominant run toward another College Football Playoff and pushing harder for Raiola than before. USC, too, made the talented signal caller its top priority and had plenty to sell given that it had just produced a Heisman Trophy winner in Caleb Williams.
Rhule, meanwhile, was only three weeks into his tenure in Lincoln.
The SEC appeal
Georgia quickly established itself as the team to beat, setting a high barometer early in 2023 when Raiola made the trip from Phoenix to Los Angeles to see them lift a second consecutive College Football National Championship title in person.
Raiola said then that Georgia, and the attraction of competing in the toughest conference in America, was too much to turn down.
By mid May he was off the board again, announcing his pledge on the day Georgia offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Bobo flew into town to watch him throw at his school’s spring showcase.
A big leap of faith from the Raiola family followed soon thereafter. They left the Phoenix area, where they were building their dream home, for Buford, Georgia, to be closer to Athens and where Raiola could begin acclimating to the Georgia program.
The Signing Day flip
Earlier in the process there had been considerable smoke that if any team could pull off a flip for Raiola, it might be the Trojans.
Head coach Lincoln Riley, who even at Oklahoma had been known to offer only one quarterback at a time, brought in five-star Malachi Nelson in the 2023 class and prioritized Raiola as the primary target the following cycle.
A number of other factors were working in USC’s favor, including relationships in the city which no other program could offer. Raiola trained with his private coaches at 3DQB down in Orange County on the weekends and felt like he had taken big leaps in his development. In Los Angeles he could also have his godfather, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, nearby and lean on him for advice.
The pull to Lincoln was constant, too. Raiola took game day visits to Nebraska where he could bond with his uncle, Huskers offensive line coach Donovan Raiola, and feel the large crowds.
On the final weekend before the signing period, Raiola returned to Nebraska for an official visit and the eventual flip on signing day was a mere formality. There was little suspense during his ceremony at Buford (Ga.), especially after it became apparent that Rhule would not be looking to add Ohio State transfer Kyle McCord to his quarterback room.
Nebraska might not have led in the marathon recruiting battle until Raiola was ready to put pen to paper. And that’s all that mattered, of course.
“Coach Kirby Smart and what he does with his program is hard to turn away from, but I just felt a tug in my heart,” Raiola told 247Sports at the Polynesian Bowl all-star game shortly after signing day. “I felt God had other plans for me and that was going to Nebraska, to be a leader in that program and bring Nebraska back with my teammates. It can be special.”
The other contenders experienced a domino effect. The Trojans missed on Raiola and DJ Lagway (Florida) in the 2024 cycle, but managed to reel in one of the top transfer quarterbacks in Jayden Maiava, the Mountain West freshman of the year last season
Georgia, after coming up short in the Arch Manning sweepstakes in 2023, signed Top247 prospect and Elite 11 Finalist Ryan Puglisi, who committed to the team back in the fall of 2022. And Ohio State, despite not holding onto Raiola, still fared very well in the cycle. Head coach Ryan Day landed Top 100 quarterback Air Noland before adding five-star Julian Sayin, who transferred from Alabama after the abrupt departure of Nick Saban.
Raiola, now the present and future of a rebuilding Huskers program, will step onto the big stage again this Saturday. He has another half dozen games on the schedule before a highly anticipated trip to Ohio Stadium for a matchup against the Buckeyes on Oct. 26.
Those are tunnels he’s walked through before.
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