Nebraska football is taking advantage of a very special loophole in order to host Dylan Raiola as well as his brother Dayton this weekend.
Matt Rhule and company have already made it clear they are willing to pull out all the stops regarding its recruitment of Dylan Raiola. That includes some rather imaginative ways to get the top prospect in the 2024 class to come take an official visit to the home of Nebraska football.
The Nebraska football staff has turned over every rock in trying to make it clear how badly they want Raiola in Lincoln. That includes taking advantage of a big loophole to get both Dylan and Dayton Raiola into town during a period of time when recruits normally can’t visit anyone.
The two brothers, both quarterbacks who are targets of Nebraska football are in town to visit their uncle, Donovan Raiola. Because they are all related, the visit is perfectly legal under NCAA bylaws, despite this technically being a dead period.
It appears this particular recruiting trip was mostly kept under wraps. It wasn’t reported until very late on Friday night. The Athletic‘s Mitch Sherman appears to be the first to have caught wind of Nebraska football’s rather ingenious way of getting around recruiting rules.
The Raiolas (Dominic, Dylan and Dayton) are in Nebraska at this hour.
— Mitch Sherman (@mitchsherman) February 25, 2023
It is a recruiting dead period through Tuesday. So Dylan, the No. 1 prospect for 2024, and fellow QB Dayton, a 2026 prospect with a Nebraska offer, can spend time w/their uncle Donovan — but not other coaches.
As Sherman points out, there are some limits to what Dylan, Dayton and their father, former Nebraska football star Dominic can do while in town. They can only hang out with Donovan since he is actually their family. They cannot meet with the other coaches.
Obviously, that’s a limitation that isn’t going to stop the Huskers from rolling out the red carpet. Donovan can still take his family around Memorial stadium and the university and show them everything there is to offer.
It’s worth pointing out, there’s no rule against Donovan showing his nephews and brother presentations that have been put together by the other coaches. Even video of say, Matt Rhule welcoming Dylan Raiola on Memorial Stadium’s big screens, if that’s something they wanted to do.
It’s a safe bet that Nebraska football fans are about to get very, very excited by this development. Dylan Raiola was already set to come to visit Lincoln at the end of March. At the very least, the Huskers get an extra visit and a leg up on Georgia and USC. But the big question is if this surprise trip might mean something more. Is it possible the star quarterback’s commit timeline is being moved up? We’ll all have to wait and see.