It wasn’t the most inspiring Year 1 on the field for Matt Rhule at Nebraska.
The Cornhuskers finished 5-7, falling short of a bowl bid for the seventh season in a row. While that is undoubtedly disappointing, there are reasons to believe better days are ahead.
On Monday, Rhule and Nebraska pulled off a colossal flip, securing a commitment from five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. A native of Buford, Georgia, Raiola — the No. 2 quarterback in the 2024 class and a top-10 overall prospect, per the 247Sports Composite Rankings — had been pledged to the in-state Bulldogs since May.
Raiola received a flood of predictions in favor of Nebraska ahead of an official visit to Lincoln last week, and he became the highest-ranked player to commit to the Cornhuskers in the recruiting rankings era, according to ESPN.
NEWS: Top quarterback recruit Dylan Raiola (@RaiolaDylan) told ESPN he’s switching his college commitment to Nebraska from Georgia. He’s the highest-ranked recruit — No. 8 overall in ESPN’s rankings — to pick Nebraska since ESPN began ranking high school players in 2006. pic.twitter.com/20pKClyumt
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 18, 2023
Assuming he ultimately signs, he’ll join a team that happens to have his uncle, Donovan Raiola, on staff as the offensive line coach. Raiola’s father Dominic also played college football for the Cornhuskers.
Nebraska has been in a decades-long battle to return to prominence, and while the on-field returns have been slow under Rhule, what’s going on under the hood is much more encouraging, especially with the investments being made in NIL.
We’re seeing that starting to bear fruit and landing a quarterback of Raiola’s stature should send a message to the entire college football world that Nebraska is finally getting serious.