One of the big keys in national football and basketball recruiting, if prospects have family members who are coaches, is very simple: Hire those coaches or, if they are inherited by a new coach, retain them.
Andy Enfield of USC basketball hired Eric Mobley. This led to the successful recruitment of Evan and Isaiah Mobley. USC would not have made the Elite Eight without the Mobley brothers. Hiring Eric Mobley was a shrewd and important move for Enfield.
Now look at what Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule has done since being hired a few weeks ago, via Cornhuskers Wire:
“The top player in the 2024 recruiting class with family ties to Nebraska Football has announced that he had decommitted from Ohio State. Quarterback Dylan Riola of Chandler, Arizona, made the announcement on Saturday after announcing his commitment to the Buckeyes back in May,” Cornhuskers Wire wrote.
“Dylan Raiola is the son of former Husker offensive lineman Dominic Raiola. Dominic played in Lincoln from 1998-2000, was a consensus All-American in 2000, and has had his Number 54 jersey retired by the school. Donavan Raiola is the Husker offensive line coach and was one of the few members of the previous staff to be retained by new head coach Matt Rhule.”
That’s a very astute move by Rhule. Nebraska is widely considered the new favorite to land Dylan Raiola and get the game-changing prospect the program needs to return to glory.
Andy Enfield certainly respects the tactics employed by Matt Rhule.
[mm-video type=video id=01gm9qwfp301nx1fxmsa playlist_id=none player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gm9qwfp301nx1fxmsa/01gm9qwfp301nx1fxmsa-5f1ce800029f353b16aab280fdc8f9aa.jpg]
[listicle id=53957]