LAS VEGAS — As Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule flitted from one ballroom to the next at Big Ten Media Days last month, he shared thousands of words in response to an avalanche of questions about quarterback Dylan Raiola, the former five-star phenom who became a true freshman starter for the Cornhuskers last fall.
From the moment Raiola made his stunning commitment to Nebraska on Dec. 18, 2023, offering yet another twist in a high-profile recruiting process that previously included verbal pledges to both Ohio State (seven months) and Georgia (seven months), his every move enthralled a passionate fan base desperate to reenter the national conversation as college football ushered in an expanded 12-team playoff. Raiola’s father, Dominic Raiola, earned consensus All-American honors as an offensive lineman for the Cornhuskers a quarter-century ago before enjoying a lengthy NFL career with the Detroit Lions. His uncle, Donovan Raiola, became Nebraska’s offensive line coach a year before Rhule took over and has remained with the program ever since.
Winning the race to sign the next Raiola, who was the No. 21 overall prospect and No. 3 quarterback in the 2024 recruiting cycle, trailing only Julian Sayin (Alabama) and DJ Lagway (Florida) at that position, helped fuse the Cornhuskers’ rich history with what they hope will be an equally promising future.
For at least the next two seasons — and perhaps longer if Raiola spends four years in college — much of the program’s trajectory hinges on its quarterback, the second-best recruit in school history behind former tailback Marlon Lucky, whose career at Nebraska began the same year Raiola was born. It’s one of the reasons why Raiola was among the quartet of players flanking Rhule during the league’s preview event last month in Las Vegas, even though he’s just a sophomore. Because if the 2024 campaign was about Raiola easing into college football as a teenager in an increasingly mature sport, then Rhule knows the upcoming season will be more of a showcase for the unquestioned face of Nebraska’s program.
“I think our team is going to play for Dylan,” Rhule said. “And I love coaching the young man.”
References to Raiola’s age — he turned 20 earlier this year — were quite frequent during Rhule’s various sessions at Big Ten Media Days, especially when he was asked about the quarterback’s growth from Year 1 to Year 2. Rhule wanted reporters to know that it wasn’t easy for Raiola, who was only 18 when he enrolled in January 2024, to vocally command an offense and a locker room that housed fifth- and sixth-year seniors, some of whom were nearly seven years his elder. Raiola approached the experience with reverence and caution, believing he needed to “earn my stripes, earn respect from my teammates,” independent of his ascension on the depth chart, as Rhule declared him the starter after three weeks of camp last August.
Dylan Raiola #15 of the Nebraska Cornhuskers takes photos with fans after a win against Wisconsin. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
The adjustment was in keeping with the uphill battle Rhule had pitched to Raiola during the recruiting process, when he encouraged the legacy quarterback to bypass playing for “the best team in the country,” which, at that time, was presumably Georgia, for the chance to turn the Cornhuskers around after seven consecutive losing seasons. He outlined a vision in which achieving something difficult at Nebraska “is how we become great,” particularly in the eyes of such loyal fans. And Rhule believed that the struggles Raiola would undoubtedly navigate while playing for a rebuilding program might double as valuable experience for his eventual transition to the NFL, where a downtrodden franchise might one day draft him.
“I think as a young quarterback [it’s about] dealing with these adversarial moments,” Rhule stated. “The factor I like about Dylan is he at all times desires the ball in his fingers. He’s by no means, like, shied away from that. He’ll be the man that wishes to make the play. Lots of guys wish to shoot a whole lot of photographs, however they don’t wish to take a shot on the buzzer. Who desires to take the shot on the buzzer? And he desires to take the shot on the buzzer.”
It meant that Raiola, like so many different quarterbacks in comparable positions, endured each the pulsating highs and soul-crushing lows of faculty soccer throughout his first season. An intoxicating 5-1 begin that included a rollicking victory over historic rival Colorado gave strategy to a crushing 49-point loss to then-No. 16 Indiana that included three interceptions from Raiola. A formidable drubbing of Wisconsin within the penultimate recreation of the common season — Raiola threw for 293 yards and one landing whereas snapping a streak of 5 consecutive outings with no less than one INT — was shortly forgotten when Raiola fumbled within the waning seconds in opposition to Iowa the next week, ushering in Nebraska’s fifth one-possession defeat of the 12 months. That outcome sunk the Cornhuskers’ report to 3-10 underneath Rhule in one-score video games and have become this system’s twenty third such loss over the past 4 seasons, essentially the most in FBS throughout that span.
By the point Nebraska’s season resulted in late December, with Rhule changing into the primary Cornhuskers’ coach to complete over .500 and win a bowl recreation in the identical 12 months since Bo Pelini in 2013, the freshman marketing campaign from Raiola could possibly be considered by a number of distinct lenses: the opening 5 video games through which Raiola produced 9 touchdowns and solely two turnovers; the remaining eight video games through which Raiola contributed simply 4 touchdowns whereas committing 11 turnovers; the ultimate three video games underneath newly promoted offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen, two of which have been victories, that noticed Raiola full 72% of his passes and throw extra touchdowns than interceptions; the victory over Boston Faculty within the Pinstripe Bowl that ended with Raiola high-fiving followers at Yankee Stadium as Nebraska’s trustworthy dreamed about what could possibly be with their budding star on the helm.
And regardless of all of the ups and downs, Raiola nonetheless completed the season with extra passing yards (2,819) than another true freshman within the nation.
“Nebraska deserves to be again on the map,” Raiola stated. “And it’s not due to me or one thing that I did. It’s simply the kind of program it’s. It’s a program able to go win. And it’s a kind of sorts of applications that’s going to be put again on prime. Like we stated earlier, these laborious issues, these laborious instances will all come to fruition when you simply hold going and keep at it. Good issues will occur.”
Dylan Raiola #15 of the Nebraska Cornhuskers celebrates after defeating Boston Faculty within the Dangerous Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl. (Picture by Dustin Satloff/Getty Pictures)
Loads of good issues occurred for Nebraska over the winter and spring as Rhule, who has gained no less than 10 video games in 12 months 3 at every of his earlier two collegiate stops, continues to encompass his quarterback with the type of expertise essential to compete for a berth within the Faculty Soccer Playoff, be that on the teaching workers or the roster itself.
In early December, amid Nebraska’s preparation for its bowl recreation, the Cornhuskers reached a two-year settlement with Holgorsen to change into this system’s full-time offensive coordinator. It’s a job that Holgorsen, greatest identified for his head-coaching stints at West Virginia and Houston, final held at Texas Tech (2007), Houston (2008-09) and Oklahoma State (2010) whereas overseeing offenses that each one scored no less than 40 factors per recreation. Nebraska hasn’t averaged 30 factors per recreation since 2018, when former coach Scott Frost and then-offensive coordinator Troy Walters put in their spread-option scheme.
Rhule’s retention of Holgorsen preempted a formidable interval of participant acquisition through the switch portal that outfitted Raiola with a handful of noteworthy plug-and-play starters at premium positions. Former Alabama proper sort out Elijah Pritchett (No. 45 switch, No. 6 OT) and former Notre Dame proper guard Rocco Spindler (No. 139 switch, No. 10 IOL) ought to solidify an offensive line that completed tied for 78th nationally in sacks allowed final season. Whereas former Kentucky wideout Dane Key (No. 34 switch, No. 10 WR) and former Cal wideout Nyziah Hunter (No. 200 switch, No. 35 WR) can anchor a passing assault that should exchange three of its prime 4 choices.
“The explanation why I imagine that we’re about to make the leap is as a result of every day, whether or not it is our administration, whether or not it is the individuals round us, nobody is saying, ‘It is this particular person’s fault, it is that particular person’s fault,’” Rhule stated. “Everyone seems to be proudly owning the product. Sure, we have now to win extra, that is the deal. However we got here right into a program that we knew was going to take somewhat little bit of time to repair. I feel we’re near fastened.”
Dylan Raiola #15 of the Nebraska Cornhuskers earlier than a recreation in opposition to USC. (Picture by Ric Tapia/Getty Pictures)
Raiola is actually doing his half, too, starting with a dedication to reshape his physique and shed among the teenage softness that also clung to his body final season. By means of a mixture of additional operating, pace work and an improved food plan — all of which, he stated, are designed to maintain him wholesome throughout what Nebraska hopes might be a prolonged 2025 marketing campaign — Raiola arrived at Large Ten Media Days feeling significantly better bodily than right now final 12 months. He now resembles one thing nearer to a grown man.
And Raiola actually regarded the half in Las Vegas whereas sporting a customized black go well with, pink spiked sneakers and together with his pocket sq. and lapel pin completely organized. As a result of anyplace Nebraska goes lately, Raiola is the unquestioned star of the present.
“As a lot as I didn’t need laborious issues to occur at our program,” Raiola stated, “like Coach Rhule would inform me, they occur. And I’m nonetheless right here now, proper? Our workforce is prepared. I’m excited. We’ve a bunch of nice dudes able to go play this 12 months.”
Michael Cohen covers faculty soccer and faculty basketball for FOX Sports activities. Comply with him at @Michael_Cohen13.
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