Most Husker fans weren’t surprised with today’s news. Since the day Dylan’s younger brother Dayton decommitted from Nebraska fans have been saying, “Where there is smoke there is fire.” Once Matt Rhule fired offensive-line coach Donavan Raiola, fans held their collective breath waiting for what was sure to come next. Well, what was to come next came today with the Raiola family announcing Dylan’s intention to enter the transfer portal.
Did you notice what I said there? The Raiola family announced. My take won’t be popular, but in my opinion part of what Matt Rhule has been fighting since day one is the Raiola family. Dominic Raiola is too close to Nebraska and the family too involved. It seems now it was an all or nothing proposition. I said in an earlier article, when Rhule fired Donavan, he finally realized the only way he was going to be successful was to take control of his own destiny and damn the consequences. Well, the consequences arrived today, and truthfully, I think it’s best for all involved.
Dylan Raiola has brought nothing but drama to Nebraska. He never would have been serious about playing at Nebraska if it weren’t for his father playing here. He committed to Ohio State, then decommitted, giving Nebraska hope that they still had a shot. Thinking that, the Huskers rejected in-state QB Danny Kaelin, who then committed to Missouri. Once Raiola committed to Georgia, Nebraska went back to Kaelin, causing him to decommit from Missouri and come to Nebraska.
With the Huskers still needing an experience QB they turned to the portal and brought in Ohio State’s Kyle McCord. But the day he was making his visit Dylan decommitted from Georgia and announced he was coming to Nebraska. Which in turn sent McCord packing and Kalin looking to go elsewhere. Rhule had to scramble and do a lot of talking to keep Kaelin in the fold.
After year one, Kaelin left for Virgina. Raiola looked at the portal and had multiple teams who were interested, forcing Nebraska to pony up $3.5 million to keep Dylan at Nebraska for a second season.
Rhule made coaching hires with Thomas and Holgorsen, added portal players in wide receivers and offensive lineman, consented to all whites with pink, and bent over backwards for his star QB. But by seasons end, neither Rhule nor the Raiola family were happy with the results. So, we now find ourselves with today’s announcement.
You must read between the lines sometimes, but Rhule often tells you what he’s thinking without saying it. Rhule had this to say in a message to his QB recently.
“Dylan made tremendous progress from year 1 to year 2 but there is progress that needs to be made moving forward. I want to see him own that. It can’t be Corey (Campbell), Kristian (Coggin), it can’t be me, it can’t be Glenn (Thomas). I want to see him take it and run with it. Dylan is a tremendous worker. He loves to work at those things, but I want to see him make a jump. This is year 3 coming up for him. He’s got to become the quarterback that we all know that he can be. Honestly, in my opinion that will help him but that falls on his shoulders. And I’m anxious to see him do it.”
The message, what he was seeing on the field wasn’t good enough, and the progress in year two wasn’t what it should have been. He called the Raiola family’s bluff. Raiola played 22 games while at Nebraska, he went 13-9 overall and 6-9 in the Big Ten as the starter. In all he threw 4,819 yards, with a 69.1% completion rate, 31 TDs, 17INTs and was sacked 54 times. He rushed 96 times for -152 yards. Raiola’s five stars surely haven’t shined as brightly as Ohio State’s Julian Sayin’s have.
Yet, Raiola is knowledgeable with a talented arm and is often compared to Patrick Mahomes with his side arm throws and his ability to improvise. But unlike Mahomes, he lacks mobility and an awareness of knowing when to scramble, making him susceptible to being sacked. He struggles with accuracy of the deep ball and seems reluctant to put heat on the ball and zip it down the middle. He’s a touch passer and when he throws interceptions, they are bad interceptions, balls that shouldn’t have been thrown.
But the full weight of Raiola’s failure to work out doesn’t fall entirely on his shoulders. While OC Dana Holgorsen is a brilliant offensive mind, his offense doesn’t fit a pure drop back passer like Raiola. Both his offense and Raiola were hobbled this season due to that. Holgorsen relies on QBs that can move, and with the addition of offensive line coach Geep Wade that probably becomes even more true.
And let’s face it, General Manager Pat Stewart more than likely relayed the message that Raiola’s numbers didn’t justify what he was getting paid. Like pro football, NIL has made playing QB a results-based business. Meaning some of that money needs to be freed up to improve the roster at other positions.
Raiola will be looking for three things wherever he goes. One, he won’t go anywhere there is a possibility of not being the starter. He’s never not been the starter and one of the reasons he decommitted from Georgia was because he knew he wouldn’t start. Two, he’ll only go to a team that can make the CFP. And three, money will talk.
As Husker fans we know wherever Dylan Raiola lands he will need a good running game and elite protection to be successful. As of now, teams being mentioned for Raiola’s services are Texas A&M, Miami, and Oregon. No matter where he goes one of the questions that arises is his Adidas contract. A&M and Miami are Adidas schools. Oregon obviously is Nike. How does that work?
I said hopefully the drama is over. Remember, last season Emmett Johnson and Keona Davis both entered the portal only to drop out. And while that could happen, I don’t believe that it will with Raiola. It’s time for both parties to move on and they know it.
GO BIG RED!!
All photos are courtesy of The Falls City Journal
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