How Dana Holgorsen's hiring, promotion to OC impacted Dylan Raiola's future at Nebraska

Nebraska hiring Dana Holgorsen as the new offensive coordinator could’ve impacted Dylan Raiola’s future, according to Husker Online’s Robin Washut.

Raiola’s future, as a prized five-star recruit and starting true freshmen quarterback, could’ve been up the air. Sure, Nebraska is a great destination, but others could’ve come after him to get him in the transfer portal, tampering or not.

Holgorsen could be integral, under Matt Rhule, to unlocking more out of Raiola long term.

“My two cents on it is, if Matt Rhule didn’t make a move, the odds of Dylan Raiola not being here next season go up dramatically,” Washut said on Sirius XM. “And so I think that they had to do something, and bringing in a coach of Dana Holgorsen’s pedigree and his offensive background and the number of quarterbacks that he’s developed, taken to the next level, that’s all of a sudden, a much more appealing sales pitch for Dylan to stick it out here. 

“And I can guarantee you with 100% certainty that he and his camp have received, you know, tampering phone calls of people checking in, you know, seeing if he wants to explore his options.” 

Dana Holgorsen key to Dylan Raiola?

Raiola has 1,921 yards, 10 touchdowns, eight interceptions and a 64.7% completion percentage. The key with Holgorsen is to keep Raiola in Nebraska and develop him further.

“But, you know, I think that this is something that I don’t know if they made it just to appease Dylan, but I think that maximizing Dylan Raiola is at the forefront of why Matt Rhule decided now is the time to do something, not just to get that sixth win, which is so critical to snap an eight year bowl drought,” Washut said. “If you have your quarterback in place and you have a coach that’s able to maximize that talent, suddenly, not only does your current roster operate at a higher level in theory, but you’re able to recruit to that offense much easier. You know, all of a sudden you become a much more attractive portal destination, so they can go get those elite game changing wide receivers, or whatever it may be. 

“So I think that there was a lot of thought involved, but certainly they know they have a window here, and they have to do what it takes to one, you know, make sure they get the most out of their prized five-star quarterback, but then also two, that they’re giving him incentive to stick around and trust this process.”

At this point, don’t expect Raiola to move on to a different school. But it was certainly something that was floated out there.

“But I will say I don’t expect any movement with Dylan,” Washut said. “I think he’s very, very happy here. He’s very well compensated. Obviously, he’s a legacy player, so his family wants him here. So I think it’s, they just needed some reason for optimism that this offense was going in the right direction, and that Nebraska and Matt Rhule ‘we’re willing to do things that are going to help Dylan be successful.’”