Heading into Year 2 of the Dylan Raiola era at Nebraska, it’s easy to forget, even despite the family ties to the program, how unlikely it was that Matt Rhule pried the five-star quarterback away from his commitment to Georgia.
Now, with Raiola representing Nebraska at Big Ten Media Days and expected to make a major jump in his sophomore season, Rhule took everyone behind the curtain and explained just how unorthodox his pitch was to one of the top QBs in the country.
Matt Rhule challenged Dylan Raiola during recruiting process
“When you’re a five-star quarterback, you probably breeze through high school, you haven’t had a lot of adversity, every time you go somewhere people talk about how great you are,” Rhule explained of Raiola to the assembled media in Las Vegas during his Tuesday media availability. “When I recruited Dylan, I said, ‘Hey come help me turn around Nebraska football, man, it’s going to be hard,’ and doing something hard is how we become great.”
It’s not often that a recruiting pitch starts with how difficult it’s going to be for one of the best players in the country to be successful, but it worked for Rhule, and that mindset could pay off in a major way as he begins Year 3 of his tenure in Lincoln.
“He’s done a great job with his body, he’s done a great job with his knowledge of the offense,” Rhule said, grinning as he raved about the growth of his young starting quarterback through a challenging seven-win season that saw Nebraska head back to a bowl game for the first time since 2016. “His command, his command of the roster, of the team, make no mistake, it’s really hard to come in as a freshman and to have to go be the leader.”
Rhule is known for his Year 3 turnarounds, orchestrated double-digit win seasons in his third year at both Temple and Baylor before leaving for the NFL, where he was unable to translate that success. That experience in the NFL may have informed another aspect of his pitch to Raiola as a highly touted high schooler.
“If not,” Rhule continued after recounting his case to Raiola about taking on the challenge of turning around the Cornhuskers, “you go play on the best team in the country, which is cool, and every once in a while they need you to make a throw to win the game, and then you go to the NFL and the worst team in the worst city drafts you,” Rhule said conjuring up images of him on the sidelines leading the Carolina Panthers, “and now you have to deal with all of this adversity.”
Raiola faced his share of adversity in his freshman season, seemingly hitting a wall in October that manifested in a three-game stretch without a passing touchdown after throwing nine across his first five career starts. That dry spell led to a four-game losing streak and a mid-season offensive coordinator change as Dana Holgorsen was elevated to the role.
With his quarterback a year older and his OC in place, Rhule’s Huskers look primed for the patented Year 3 breakout, but that wouldn’t feel nearly as possible had Raiola not responded to Rhule’s unique recruiting pitch (along with a healthy dose of NIL dollars) two years ago.