Five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola made perhaps the biggest splash of the 2024 recruiting cycle when he flipped his commitment to Nebraska ahead of the early signing period. The No. 2 quarterback in the country, per 247Sports, had been committed to Georgia football for nearly seven months before changing his mind.
More information surfaced regarding Raiola’s decision on Wednesday, which also happens to be national signing day. Dylan’s father, Dominic Raiola, shared a story with Rivals about receiving a call from ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit after a flip to Nebraska began to gain traction.
“I’ll bring up one guys name, his name is Kirk Herbstreit. When he saw the smoke about Dylan entertaining Nebraska, he was like call me, he was like ‘Dude if this is true, he’s gotta do it.’ His affinity for Nebraska, for a guy like that to tell me and get behind me, you know I knew he needed to do it, but I wasn’t going to sit here and say you need to go change that place or be a part of the change of that place. So when Kirk told me that, you know I was like man, I had other coaches reach and say the place is special and coach Rhule is a special leader.”
It’s unlikely that Herbstreit’s call caused Raiola to make the flip. Dominic Raiola was a two-time All-Big 12 selection at center for the Cornhuskers, while his brother, Donovan Raiola, coaches the offensive line on Matt Rhule’s staff.
What’s confusing about this new information is Herbstreit’s affinity with Nebraska, which was enough to prompt him to call Dominic Railoa. Herbstreit is a Ohio State alumnus and covers college football at the national level. We don’t often hear of a personality like Herbstreit singling out a recruit, or encouraging a player to sign with a different school than he’s committed to.