Why Dylan Raiola's commitment to Nebraska is a 'shocker'

The biggest flip of the 2024 cycle has happened; Dylan Raiola is now a Nebraska Cornhusker.

De-committing from Georgia, Raiola has elected to play under Matt Rhule in Lincoln to begin his college football career. Regarded as one of the top quarterbacks in the 2024 class, the program has never had such a more high-profile quarterback choose to play for Nebraska.

“They haven’t had a guy this highly ranked since that Marlon Lucky-Ndamukong Suh class,” Husker Online’s Season Callahan told On3’s Andy Staples. “In terms of ranking and legacy — it’s got to be right up there with one of the more high-profile commits that Nebraska has ever landed. That’s especially [true] when you talk about it at the quarterback position.

“Really, for the last three-plus years, Dylan Raiola has been a household recruiting name,” Callahan continued. “I call him a grocery store recruit. He’s a guy that when you go to the grocery store, people stop and ask you questions about Dylan Raiola. There are very few high school kids that have that kind of star power.

Currently, 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.

But how did Nebraska manage to land such a highly touted player? Family ties, of course.

“But go back to when Matt Rhule came, but the one coach that he retained on his staff was Donovan Raiola — the uncle of Dylan Raiola. Immediately, that allowed Nebraska to stay in it. … They continued to keep the ball in play to an extent to get to this point, which it’s a shocker, I think, in the recruiting world to see a five-star guy like this pick Nebraska right now.”

Donovan Raiola recently earned a massive 53 percent raise and a contract extension during the season. Whether that has anything to do with his nephew’s eventual commitment is purely speculation — but is something you shouldn’t overlook when trying to figure out where the pieces fell into place.

Still, everything can’t be blamed on Raiola’s personal ties with the program. At the same time, it’s a testament to what Rhule has created in Lincoln in just over a year. He’s been tabbed as a program builder during his previous stops at Temple and Baylor, respectively. With Raiola’s commitment — he now has his franchise centerpiece.