Dylan Raiola: 'Nebraska's a special place'

In the fall, Dylan Raiola will have a chance to provide young fans with the same awe he felt attending Nebraska games as a child. He isn’t allowing the moment to pass him by. On Thursday, the Nebraska freshman revealed how it’s been preparing for his debut campaign.

“Nebraska is a special place. It’s always been like that,” Raiola said. “I never take it for granted how good our fans are. I try to be around my guys as much as possible. Take them out to go eat. Play Madden. It’s been good. I love living here. Not a lot of distractions, a lot of ball and being around your guys.”

Raiola nearly missed out on these memorable times. The highly-touted quarterback was initially committed to Georgia, but ultimately swapped his commitment to Nebraska on Dec. 18.

Raiola boasts strong families ties with the Cornhuskers. Raiola’s father played there in college. Further, his uncle — Donovan Raiola — is currently on Rhule’s staff as the offensive line coach and recently received a contract extension.

It was a massive get for head coach Matt Rhule and Co. Raiola played high school football at Buford (GA), where he was a five-star prospect. He was the No. 21 overall recruit in the 2024 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Matt Rhule raves about Dylan Raiola

Despite Raiola’s heritage and high rating, he won’t be handed the starting spot at quarterback. He will also have to compete with fellow freshman Daniel Kaelin and veteran Heinrich Haarberg. In March, Rhule weighed in on the battle behind center.

“They’ve done a great job, you can see a fire and competitiveness in Dylan,” Rhule said. “He wants to be at the top, he’s chomping at the bit, he’s in there at six o’clock in the morning throwing balls before his lift. Lift’s at 10:30 but he’s in there at 6:00 throwing. You can see it with Danny, he comes in and he’s working on football.”

While Raiola has been impressive during spring camp, Rhule isn’t looking to add extra pressure on the standout prospect.

“I told Dylan the moment he got here, ‘Don’t worry about being the five-star quarterback. Don’t worry about being all these things. Expectation weighs us down. Just play ball,'” Rhule said.

Fans won’t have to wait much longer to watch Raiola play ball. On April 27, Nebraska will play its annual Red-White Spring Game at 11 a.m. local time.