Nebraska OL coach Donovan Raiola receives contract extension, 53 percent pay raise

Nebraska offensive line back Donovan Raiola has been awarded a 53 percent raise and an additional year toward his contract, according to the Omaha World Herald.

Raiola’s contract was initially set to give him a base salary of $175,000 — but was hiked up to $500,000 and was extended until Dec. 31, 2024. That date aligns with the rest of head coach Matt Rhule’s staff’s contract.

Interestingly, Donovan Raiola is the uncle of Five-Star Plus+ quarterback recruit Dylan Raiola — the consensus No. 3 quarterback in the 2024 recruiting class. The blue-chip prospect is committed to play at Georgia, but recent reports have hinted toward the Cornhuskers making a late push for his services.

Donovan Raiola is the only member of the previous regime from Scott Frost’s tenure to return for the Matt Rhule era.

According to On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM), Raiola has been given a 36.1 percent change of flipping from the Bulldogs to the Cornhuskers. He is set to take an official visit to Nebraska this weekend, according to On3’s Hayes Fawcett. The 6-foot-3, 230-pounder has been committed to Georgia since May.

Raiola ranks as the No. 17 player in the On3 Industry Ranking, a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services.. He is the No. 3 quarterback and the No. 3 player out of the state of Georgia.

This isn’t the first time that family ties have the potential to play a role in major recruiting battles in recent years. In the college basketball space, former top recruit and eventual No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham played his one and done season at Oklahoma State — where his brother, Cannen, was an assistant coach at the time.

Nebraska still looking to add Kyle McCord out of transfer portal

Raiola is not the only quarterback Nebraska is currently recruiting. A huge name out of the transfer portal was recently in Lincoln for a visit, with Ohio State‘s Kyle McCordconsidering the Huskers. In fact, Callahan inserted an On3 RPM for McCord to ultimately choose Nebraska.

So how would the situation with McCord and Raiola play out during the 2024 season? Callahan and Staples compared it to Texas with Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning — at least from the preseason.

McCord is the guy during the 2024 season, only having one year of eligibility remaining. Raiola gets playing time before taking over as the starter in 2025. When coaches can present a quarterback plan to recruits and transfer portal entrants, they begin to believe.

Read more from On3’s Griffin McVeigh here.