Getty Image / Ronald Martinez
Lincoln Riley has had the opportunity to coach some great quarterbacks since becoming a college head coach.
At Oklahoma, he started out with Baker Mayfield as his starter.
He was followed by Kyler Murray. When Kyler Murray headed to the NFL, Jalen Hurts took over as the starter for the Sooners.
Then he had the combination of Spencer Rattler and Caleb Williams.
When he left for USC, he brought Williams with him.
This season, he has 5-star recruit Malachi Nelson joining the Trojans.
Now it appears he is already pursuing his next big name at the position.
According to Rivals’ Adam Gorney, Dylan Raiola, who is the top recruit in the Class of 2024, is visiting USC.
Five-star QB Dylan Raiola from Chandler, Ariz. is expected to visit USC on Saturday @RyanYoungRivals @Rivals
— Adam Gorney (@adamgorney) January 28, 2023
Raiola heading to California to play for the Trojans would be a pretty surprising decision.
USC’s quarterback room is already pretty loaded right now.
Caleb Williams is going to be the starter next season coming off of a Heisman-winning 2022 season where he almost got USC into the College Football Playoff for the first time.
Behind him, the Trojans will have Malachi Nelson, who will be joining USC as a freshman this season. The 5-star quarterback is one of the tip recruits in the Class of 2023.
Once Williams moves on to the NFL at the end of next season, Nelson will be expected to take over the starting job. If he holds that job for the two years before he can leave for the draft, that would leave Raiola waiting until his junior year to see the field.
There’s always the chance that he could beat Nelson out for the starting job, but it’s a pretty big risk to take with his career.
It’s still pretty early in Raiola’s recruitment and he should have plenty more visits before he makes a decision. Hopefully some of those visits are with a bit less competition at quarterback.