Bold Dylan Raiola doesn’t mince words about where Nebraska's bar is set

Heading into Year 3 of the Matt Rhule regime, expectations are only getting higher by the week for the Nebraska football team. The expectations held by members of the team like Dylan Raiola are highest of all.

Similarly, heading into Big Ten Media Days, there were some voices in and around the program that wished out loud Raiola would take a calm and measured approach. No one wanted the sophomore quarterback to make any comments that could be taken as "bulletin board material."

Nebraska football: Dylan Raiola says national championship is the bar for 2025

So during one of his first interviews, when asked what he expected of the 2025 Nebraska football team, what did he say? "National championship. That's the bar that's been set."

Cue the eye rolling and the hand wringing. But was what he said really all that outlandish? Would Husker fans have loved it if he had said, "we're hoping for 7 wins and everything else is just gravy"? Absolutely not.

In the interview with Hurrdat Sports' Averie Howard, Raiola made it clear he isn't expecting to win a national championship. He's not saying it will be an easy road. But that's the goal, as it should be for any top-level athlete competing in the Big Ten.

"That's the journey we're going to choose to go on, Raiola added. "And so anything other than that won't be a failure, but we'll just be a little disappointed."

While some people were busy worrying about the star quarterback putting his foot in his mouth, he came up with a surprisingly mature answer.

If the Cornhuskers don't win the National Title, the season won't be a failure. Most fans would be plenty happy with noted improvement over 2024. A trip to the playoffs would be nice, but a run to the title isn't all that realistic.

On the other hand, this Nebraska football team has the talent to make some noise. And they've got a leader in Dylan Raiola who is approaching the season with exactly the right approach. Crazier things have happened.