Dylan Raiola, 5-star QB and nation's top prospect for 2024 finally gives verbal

[jbcarol]

Raiola to Georgia

Dylan Raiola is a 5-star quarterback and the top player in the country for the 2024 recruiting class. He was previously committed to Ohio State before reopening his recruitment in December.

Since reopening his recruitment, Raiola's been trending back and forth between USC's program under Lincoln Riley and Kirby Smart's Georgia program. In the end, it was the Bulldogs that pulled in the elite QB.

Listed at 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds out of Pinnacle High  —

With a Dave Baker's Dozen hard verbals, Kirby's class now ranks 4th in our nation (and league).

[jbcarol]

Wes Rucker@wesrucker247
·
7h
Guesses on which walk-on QB beats Dylan Raiola for the job and leads Georgia to a ship?


#AllHatAllCattle

[jbcarol]

Herbstreit allegedly called Dylan Raiola's father to encourage QB to flip to Nebraska
Spenser Davis |

Herbstreit was amongst the people who encouraged 5-star quarterback Dylan Raiola to flip from Georgia to Nebraska, according to new comments from Raiola's father.

Raiola's father, Dom Raiola, shared that intel in an interview with Rivals' Adam Gorney this week. Dominic, who also played at Nebraska, detailed some of his conversation:

"When [Herbstreit] saw the smoke about Dylan entertaining Nebraska, he called me," Raiola said. "He said, 'dude, is this true? He's got to do it.'

"His affinity for Nebraska, for a guy like that, to tell me and get behind me. I knew he needed to do it. But I wasn't going to sit here and say 'You need to go change that place or be a part of the change of that place.' So when Kirk told me that ... I've had other coaches reach out to me and say the place is special. Coach (Matt) Rhule is a special leader."

[jbcarol]

O'Gara: Here's the problem with the Kirk Herbstreit-Dylan Raiola situation

Kirk Herbstreit is paid handsomely to give his analysis on football. Period.

For my money (which it isn't), he's as good as there is in the business. The ability to break down teams from coast to coast is a skill that he mastered. To do that with ever-changing rosters in the sport with 134 FBS teams — roughly 4 times the size of any major professional sports league in America —

While I might not always agree with Herbstreit — I strongly opposed his Florida State Playoff thoughts and his subsequent back-and-forths with Seminoles fans on social media —

But with Dylan Raiola, Herbstreit didn't just call it like he saw it. He went out of his way to influence one of the top recruits in the country.

In case you missed it, here's how Raiola's dad, former Nebraska All-American Dominic Raiola, recalled Herbstreit getting in contact with him once rumors spread that his son could flip from Georgia to Nebraska before the Early Signing Period began:



"When this was happening, I'll bring up one guy's name, his name is Kirk Herbstreit," Dominic Raiola said during an interview with Rivals' Adam Gorney. "When he saw the smoke about Dylan entertaining Nebraska, he was like call me, he was like 'Dude if this is true, he's gotta do it.' His affinity for Nebraska, for a guy like that to tell me and get behind me, you know I knew he needed to do it, but I wasn't going to sit here and say you need to go change that place or be a part of the change of that place.

"So when Kirk told me that, you know I was like man, I had other coaches reach and say the place is special and coach Rhule is a special leader."

I know what you're thinking. Raiola's family ties might've always pushed him away from Georgia to Nebraska and in the grand scheme of things, Herbstreit reaching out to Raiola's dad to say "he's gotta do it" might not have had any impact whatsoever on that decision. Agreed.

But notice how this information was released. Herbstreit didn't share this revelation himself. It was Raiola's dad, Dominic, who shed light on that encounter. This also wasn't Herbstreit being asked a question on College GameDay or any of ESPN's other college football programs.

Herbstreit doesn't figure to face any sort of consequences from ESPN, but in a position of major influence, one's credibility is everything. It's not just that Herbstreit ticked off a Georgia fan base that still hasn't cooled down since UGA legend David Pollack was let go by ESPN last year and replaced by Pat McAfee, who told Georgia fans to "go to hell".

It's that Herbstreit saw a coveted recruit waffling on his college decision, and he used his influence to try and tip the scales.

It doesn't matter that Herbstreit himself isn't some Nebraska legend. In a strange way, that'd be more understandable. It would take the sting away from Georgia fans, plenty of whom will now (fair or not) try to sift through any bias in his UGA-related analysis. Herbstreit is allowed to have biases for people, or even in some situations, he can admit that he has a soft spot for a team because of a certain connection that he might have.

But when you're the No. 1 voice in the sport and you've made an entire career of calling it as you see it, you jeopardize that reputation by going rogue to impact someone who could have a major impact on the sport in the latter half of the 2020s. You can't claim you're just "a fan of the sport who wants to see traditional powers return" while maintaining neutrality when you're also trying to directly impact their path to success.

This is different than a grown adult in the coaching world calling up Herbstreit to advise him on whether he should leave for a certain job. It's even different than Herbstreit calling it as he saw it with Miami not spending enough on the football program, which influenced those decision-makers enough to fire Manny Diaz and hire Mario Cristobal.

The way that I see it, Herbstreit never intended for Dominic Raiola to share their private conversation. Sure, Herbstreit's approval rating in Nebraska might be so high that he never has to pay for a meal in the state. Maybe Herbstreit will even fire up the Twitter fingers with a response that he didn't intend to interfere with Raiola's process of picking a school, and that he was just calling it like he saw it. Alternatively, he'll do nothing and hope this blows over.

That could be seen as the path of least resistance for someone like Herbstreit, who at this point might feel like he walks on water in ways that few in the media do. If that's how he sees it, so be it.

Time will tell how...

[jbcarol]

Herbstreit Responds

Derek Peterson

"When [Herbstreit] saw the smoke about Dylan entertaining Nebraska, he called me," Raiola's father said. "He said, 'Dude, is this true? He's got to do it.'"

On Thursday, Herbstreit dialed into The Paul Finebaum Show:

"Why would I tell anyone to leave Georgia?" he told Paul. "Like Georgia is now — as we have talked about for the last couple of years – (has) become the bar in the sport. I love Kirby (Smart), and Kirby and I have a great relationship, so that's kind of silly that I would do that.

"It sounded like the family, out of respect for their love for Nebraska, was really torn. That's what he sounded like," Herbstreit said. "I just thought that, being a guy who went to Ohio State and a lot of that had to do with my dad, I just said, 'Wow, the fact that your son can go to any school, any powerhouse that's competing for national titles, and because of his respect for his own dad, he's thinking about maybe going to Nebraska? A place that hasn't competed for national titles in over 20 years? That says a lot about who the kid is, as far as what he wants to do.'

"... I just said, 'Wow, that's a powerful thing if he ended up doing that. But I of course did not sell Nebraska and try to tell anybody not to go to Georgia. That's the most ridiculous thing that anybody would do. But I did compliment (Nebraska coach) Matt Rhule. If I'm guilty of anything, I said that Matt Rhule is a good coach and he's a good man and I believe he will bring Nebraska back."

Georgia, for its part, has also moved on.