Nebraska-bound Dylan Raiola finally chose home, and thats great for college football

September 15, 2024

When five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola committed to Georgia on May 15, he posted a picture of himself wearing a Bulldogs uniform on Twitter. There was a single word bolded and prominently displayed in the graphic: home.

Yes, “home” is a word often used by recruits when they commit to a program, signifying their new digs for the foreseeable future. But when Raiola chose that word, it seemed intentional for an entirely different reason. Why? Because Georgia wasn’t home — even though he moved to the Peach State to play his senior season. The Nebraska program Raiola passed over before choosing the Bulldogs was actually home.

That was a bad day for college football because it was just another five-star quarterback doing what five-star prospects always do. It was the rich getting richer, and the distance between the haves and the have-nots growing even wider.

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That’s what makes today such a special day. Raiola, the No. 6 overall player and the No. 2 quarterback in the 2024 class in the 247Sports Composite, changed his mind and decided to actually go home. On Monday afternoon, he flipped his commitment and will sign with Nebraska.

The 6-foot-3, 230-pound prospect did what so many high-profile prospects have done before him. He changed his mind right before signing a national letter of intent, reminding us that even in this new recruiting era that features prospects committing earlier than ever, we can still have some drama as signing day approaches.

Raiola took a surprise official visit to Nebraska last weekend, but it seemed as though his mind was made up before he ever stepped foot back in Lincoln, a place he had visited so many times before.

Lincoln is home because of direct family ties to the program. Raiola’s father Dominic is a former Nebraska All-American, and his uncle, Donovan, is currently the Huskers offensive line coach.

When Matt Rhule took the Nebraska job, an eight-year contract at a program with so much history and financial buy-in had to be attractive. For a coach who was recently fired from an NFL gig and looking to get back into the collegiate game, Nebraska was the perfect fit. Rhule had already engineered successful rebuilds at Temple and Baylor — two programs with unique challenges — so why not the Cornhuskers?

But unlike other rebuilding jobs, Nebraska came with something special — an opportunity for the first-year head coach to have an inside angle at a player who at the time was ranked as the No. 1 overall prospect in the country.

Rhule did everything in his power to start his tenure off by landing Nebraska’s first five-star prospect since 2005. He failed at first.

That didn’t mean Rhule didn’t have a good sales pitch. He told Raiola he could come to Nebraska and follow his father’s footsteps while also being the catalyst for change at a program that was once the gold standard for the sport. Also, Nebraska is the type of place that could assuredly put together a nice little NIL bag, especially for someone with that last name, that position and those family connections to the program.

But it wasn’t enough in May, and that was devastating. If this Nebraska program — one with a promising new coach — couldn’t get through to a five-star quarterback like Raiola, did the Huskers ever have any hope?

The NIL era was supposed to be the reason new programs could land premier high school talents. But initially, big, bad Georgia, the machine of a program that couldn’t be stopped, was too powerful of a magnet. When Raiola relocated from Phoenix to Georgia after his junior year, that all but sealed what everyone assumed: Raiola was headed to play at Georiga.

Nope.

Recruiting is so juicy and unpredictable. Raiola had a change of heart — maybe it was a result of family ties or a better NIL package — and now the college football world has a reason to track another program. We have a reason to pay closer attention to Rhule’s build and believe there is actually hope for a program many have left for dead.

Nebraska did it. In the process, the Cornhuskers also added another intriguing storyline and a reason for the casual fan to flip on the Big Ten Network. Raiola, even if he doesn’t start as a freshman, is going to be a story from Day 1.

Other programs can do it, too. And that’s such a far cry from the message Raiola unintentionally sent in May when he committed to Georgia after initially pledging to Ohio State. It was going to be a powerhouse program for the five-star prospect. Nobody else had a chance, even if your father was an All-American center there.

It’s not that Raiola did anything wrong by choosing Georgia. Who could blame a five-star prospect with NFL dreams for picking the school that sends a ton of players to The League? It’s the path of least resistance.

Raiola’s chances of getting to the NFL most likely didn’t take a hit with his decision to play at Nebraska, but his path is different. He’s a big, strong prospect with a live arm. He could have gone anywhere, but he chose Nebraska.

What a breath of fresh air.

And with that deep, invigorating breath, it makes you feel like this sport actually has a chance at achieving some parity in the future. The only way we’re ever going to get there is when elite-level prospects like Raiola decide they can achieve their dreams by going to unique places that fit them and their needs, regardless of how many times the team has made the College Football Playoff in the previous five years.

Raiola will all but certainly make an impact at a Nebraska program that just took five huge steps forward.

But maybe, just maybe, his decision will be a reminder to other prospects in his position that they don’t have to be just like everyone else.

The result may be more programs with top-level players.

Wouldn’t that be something?

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(Photo: Steve Limentani / ISI Photos / Getty Images)

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