Did one of college football’s top analysts have a role in helping Nebraska secure a five-star recruit? According to the recruit’s father, that may be the case.
Dominic Raiola, father of quarterback Dylan Raiola, spoke to Adam Gorney, national recruiting director for Rivals, and said that ESPN’s Kirk Heberstreit was someone who reached out and offered advice.
“When this was happening, I will bring up one guy’s name, Kirk Herbstreit. When he saw the smoke about Dylan entertaining Nebraska, he called me and said, ‘dude, is this true? He got to do it.’ His affinity for Nebraska, for a guy like that to tell me and get behind me.”
In December, Raiola flipped his commitment from the Georgia Bulldogs to the Cornhuskers class of 2024. There are strong family connections to the program as his father, Dominic Raiola, played at Nebraska from 1998 to 2000 and was the first Rimington Trophy winner.
🔴NSD LIVE🔴@AdamGorney checks in with Dylan Raiola's father, Dominic, to discuss his son's flip from Georgia to Nebraska and how he envisions his future with the Huskers👇
🗞️: https://t.co/W2RZy5aoON pic.twitter.com/M37LnAMLkw
— Rivals (@Rivals) February 7, 2024
His uncle Donovan is Nebraska’s offensive line coach. The news of the phone call caused a flood of reactions, most of them negative. Herbstreit told Paul Finebaum that the idea that he would try influencing recruiting at any level is ridiculous.
The former Ohio State quarterback said that if he was guilty of anything, it was giving his honest feelings regarding Husker head coach Matt Rhule.
“Are you supposed to say Matt Rhule is a bad guy, Matt Rhule is an idiot, Matt Rhule is a bad coach? Or do you say, ‘I like Matt Rhule. I think Matt Rhule is a good coach.’”
From previous comments from Dylan and Dominic Raiola, it’s pretty clear that several factors played into the commitment switch. It’s highly doubtful that one phone call from Kirk Herbstreit played any role in the decision.
Kirk Herbstreit gives his take on the phone call he had with Dylan Raiola's dad before the QB recruit flipped his commitment from Georgia to Nebraska pic.twitter.com/W7fWbSrKHq
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) February 8, 2024
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