Dylan Raiola may or may not be the starting quarterback at Nebraska next college football season. He was already expected to explore his options in the transfer portal and then his uncle was fired.
If that was not telling enough, his little brother also decommitted.
I do not know what Raiola and his family are going to decide for their future but it does not look likely that he will finish his college football career with the Cornhuskers. Matt Rhule obviously hopes otherwise.
Dylan Raiola is going to explore the transfer portal.
The recruitment of Dylan Raiola was already hectic out of high school. He was considered one of the 10 best players in the Class of 2024 and the No. 2-ranked player at his position behind D.J. Lagway.
Ohio State received his commitment in May of 2022 but that lasted only seven months.
Raiola reopened his recruitment in December of 2022 and later committed to Georgia in May of 2023. He flipped his commitment for a second time in December of 2023 and signed with Nebraska.
The first two years of Raiola’s career have been good, not great.
- 2024: 67.1% completion percentage, 2,819 yards, 13 touchdowns, 11 interceptions
- 2025: 72.4% completion percentage, 2,000 yards, 18 touchdowns, six interceptions
The Huskers went 7-6 during his freshman season. They started at 6-3 during his sophomore season before he broke his fibula.
Nebraska was able to keep Dylan Raiola in Lincoln last offseason after his camp held informal conversations with other programs. This year may not yield the same result. According to CBS Sports, Raiola is expected to explore his options to leave— again. And the staff is not so sure he’s going to stay.
Matt Rhule fired his uncle.
Head coach Matt Rhule wants Raiola to finish what he started. His initial public pitch to his quarterback was rooted in development and internal drive.
“I think Dylan’s at a place right now where you’re going through a hard time when you’re injured,” Rhule said. “What I’ve encouraged him to do is embrace it and attack it. Let it hurt. Let it hurt that you’re not out there playing and consistently write down every day what [you are] learning and what [you] need to do. Dylan made tremendous progress from year 1 to year 2, but there’s progress that needs to be made moving forward. I want to see him own that.”
Rhule later doubled down with strong language about year three.
“I want to see him take it and run with it, even at this time,” he said.” Dylan’s a tremendous worker, but I want to see him make a jump. This is year three coming up for him. He’s got to become the quarterback that we all know he can be. We’ll help him, but that falls on his shoulders, and I’m anxious to see him do it.”
However, Rhule fired Dylan Raiola’s uncle on Saturday.
According to Pete Nakos, Nebraska already has a replacement for Donovan Raiola in mind. The Cornhuskers are ready to replace him just like that.
What will his nephew think? Rather, nephews— with an s.
Not only is Dylan reportedly thinking about leaving, his little brother chose not to sign with Nebraska during the Early Signing Period. He instead chose to decommit from the program and reopen his commitment.
The writing certainly seems to be on the walls. The Raiola family does not seem long for Lincoln.