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A now viral clip of Dylan Raiola’s father is making major headlines this week. In a recent interview, the elder Raiola discussed a phone call from Kirk Herbstreit prior to his son’s commitment to Nebraska.
Did the college football personality influence the passer’s decision? Fans are debating on social media.
Raiola’s recruitment was an interesting one. A roller coaster ride of sorts, the nation’s top ranked quarterback committed to three different schools throughout the process.
The first was Ohio State, though they’d become an afterthought during Raiola’s senior season at Buford High School. The signal caller flipped his pledge to defending national champion Georgia prior to his final year, and he kept to that decision up through the very last week of his recruitment.
Set to become the headliner in college football’s No. 1 class, he suddenly had a change of heart.
His father’s alma mater Nebraska had made a late push under new head coach Matt Rhule, and Raiola was giving the program some serious consideration.
The fact that his uncle works on the Cornhuskers’ staff made the decision all the more difficult.
In the end, he flipped his commitment once again just days before the early signing period. He immediately became the top prospect in the ‘Huskers 2024 cycle giving Rhule a foundation to build around in Lincoln.
@247.huskers Dylan Raiola is showing out for sure 👀 #GBR #nebraska #nebraskafootball #nebraska #huskers #dylanraiola ♬ Cha Cha Freestyle – 🛸LINK🛸
Raiola has all the talent in the world. With a rocket arm and prototypical size, he can compete for early playing time at Nebraska.
The Cornhusker might need to send Kirk Herbstreit a ‘thank you’ card for that late flip.
Raiola’s father recently discussed his son’s recruitment, as well as a phone call received from the College GameDay host prior to making that change of heart official.
“I’ll bring up one guy’s name – his name’s Kirk Herbstreit,” Raiola said. “When he saw the smoke about Dylan entertaining Nebraska, he called me and was like, ‘Is this true?’
“‘He’s got to do it! His affinity for Nebraska,’ For a guy like that to get behind it… I knew he needed to do it, but I wasn’t going to say, ‘You need to change that place or be a part of that place.’ When Kirk said this, I was like, ‘Man… this place is special.'”
@247.huskers Kirk Herbstreit 🤝 All of Nebraska #GBR #nebraskafootball #huskers #nebraska #football ♬ Suspenseful and tense orchestra(1318015) – SoLaTiDo
Herbstreit’s opinion certainly seemed to hold some weight with the family. Did it give Raiola that extra nudge to make the flip?
Who knows? UGA fans won’t be happy to hear about the outside influence, though they still have a plethora of five-star talent waiting in the QB room.
We’ll see how it all works out for Dylan Raiola in Lincoln!