Isaac Gifford raves over Dylan Raiola, how he has already earned the trust of Nebraska teammates

The Nebraska Cornhuskers had a major recruiting win when they were able to sign quarterback Dylan Raiola. Now, despite only being a freshman, he’s already earned the trust of his teammates.

Defensive back Isaac Gifford raved over Dylan Raiola during Big Ten Media Days. There, he broke down how Dylan Raiola was able to earn that trust.

“He’s come in as a freshman and he’s earned the respect of the guys on the team, right? He’s super composed and he’s smart in the pocket,” Gifford said. “He’s been great so far. I’m gonna be excited to see what he can do this year?”

Ultimately, it had less to do with Dylan Raiola’s raw talent that helped him quickly earn the respect from his teammates. Instead, it comes down to the work ethic and his ability to lead through the actions that he’s shown since getting to Nebraska.

“He came in and he worked just as hard as everybody else,” Gifford said. “He’s in there, logging hours, watching film. Spends a lot of time in the building getting better.”

Dylan Raiola was a five-star recruit in the Class of 2024, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. He was the third-ranked quarterback in the class and the 21st-ranked player nationally in that class.

“Right off the bat, he’s identifying the defense,” Gifford said. “For some quarterbacks, our defense is not easy to pick out blitzers and that kind of stuff because we’re moving around so much. He came in and he picked it up pretty quick.”

Notably, Dylan Raiola comes from a football family. His uncle, Donovan Raiola, is an offensive line coach for the Cornhuskers. So, he has family to lean on around the Nebraska program. Even with that, Isaac Gifford credits his early success to his work ethic above anything else.

“His uncle being there is big for him. He’s got his uncle to lean on, but I mean, I don’t know. There’s nothing crazy other than the fact that he’s willing to put the work in early. Like he’s getting up and throwing with the receivers early on in the day and he just…he’s been doing a great job.”

Matt Rhule addresses Nebraska’s QB competition between Dylan Raiola, Heinrich Haarberg

Nebraska still has an open quarterback competition between Dylan Raiola and Heirich Haarberg, which head coach Matt Rhule recently addressed.

“When we know, we know. I’ve got Heinrich Haarberg, who won five games as the starting quarterback at Nebraska last year. Not many guys have done that recently. I’ve got Daniel Kaelin, who’s one of the top recruits in the country, Elite 11. I’ve got Dylan, who’s one of the top recruits in the country. They’ve all had these great moments,” Rhule said.

“I feel like, after this summer, they’ve earned the right to come in and show us this camp what they’ve done and what they can do. We dream of the day we can play January 20. It’s going to take a lot of players to get through a 16-game season. We’ll compete it out, it will be fun. They’ll have high moments and low moments, but when we know, we know.”