Nebraska Football Recruiting: Dayton Raiola becomes latest family member with NU offer

When Mickey Joseph says that the Nebraska football recruiting apparatus has been working hard in the last few weeks, he’s not kidding. Offer after offer has gone out to players all over the country. On Tuesday, the latest offer saw yet another member of the Raiola family in contact with the Huskers.

This time, it was Dayton Raiola, little brother to Ohio State commit Dylan Raiola, son the former Husker great Dominic Raiola, and nephew to current NU offensive line coach Donovan Raiola. The youngest member of the football family announced on Twitter that this official offer was his very first.

Dayton, like his brother plays quarterback for Chandler High School in Arizona. Because he’s a member of the 2026 class, his football career is just getting started. While he doesn’t yet have a rating with the recruiting services, there’s a pedigree there that apparently convinced Joseph the kid was worth an offer.

One has to wonder if there wasn’t at least a little bit of regret in losing out on his big brother by the previous staff. There was a time when Dylan was considered a heavy lean to the Cornhuskers. Then the Nebraska football recruiting efforts dropped the ball in big and small ways.

Now the older brother of Dayton seems to be on lockdown for the Buckeyes. It can’t feel good to know that in just a few years, the Huskers will be going up against the son of one of the greats of Nebraska football lore.

Obviously, there is a long row to hoe when it comes to landing the younger Raiola – who also has a sister playing volleyball at TCU – but the Cornhuskers have found a way to get their foot in the door.

It’s hard to argue with the approach that Joseph has taken with Nebraska football recruiting, especially in laying the groundwork for the future of the program.