Dylan Raiola said Nebraska was in his blood. Two years later, he’s looking for a fresh start somewhere else. The former five-star quarterback announced Dec. 15 that he will enter the transfer portal, ending a tenure in Lincoln that was supposed to herald the program’s return to national relevance.
Instead, Raiola leaves after two seven-win seasons, a broken fibula, and the departure of his uncle from the coaching staff, a Cornhuskers dream that never quite materialized into the reality he imagined when he flipped his commitment from Georgia just two days before signing day in December 2023.
Dylan Raiola’s Transfer Portal Entry Caps Turbulent Two Years
The warning signs were there for those paying attention. Raiola transferred high schools twice — from Burleson, Texas, to Chandler, Arizona, to Buford, Georgia — before ever playing a college snap. He committed to Ohio State in May 2022, decommitted that December, pledged to Georgia in May 2023, then flipped to Nebraska seven months later.
His father, former Huskers All-American center Dominic Raiola, called the commitment a homecoming. His uncle, Donovan, was already on staff as the offensive line coach. For a while, it worked.
Raiola started all 13 games as a true freshman in 2024, setting the program’s freshman record with 2,819 passing yards and guiding Nebraska to its first bowl victory since 2015 against Boston College. He looked the part of a franchise quarterback at 6’3″ and 230 pounds with legitimate arm talent.
His sophomore season started even better. Raiola completed 72.4% of his passes — a Nebraska single-season record — and threw for 2,000 yards with 18 touchdowns against just six interceptions before everything collapsed on Nov. 1.
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A sack against USC resulted in a broken right fibula that ended his season. The dominoes fell quickly after that.
His younger brother, Dayton, decommitted from Nebraska’s 2026 recruiting class. The program fired Donovan Raiola as offensive line coach shortly after the regular season ended. And Dylan, who had contemplated leaving last offseason before coach Matt Rhule convinced him to stay, decided he’d had enough.
“The portal will giveth and the portal will taketh away,” Rhule said on the Huskers Radio Network. “It’s just the new normal, and we have to embrace it.”
Rhule acknowledged what Raiola meant to the program’s recruiting efforts, even as his on-field production fell short of expectations.
“He was really the first five-star to come here and signal to everybody, ‘Hey, it’s cool to come to Nebraska,'” Rhule said. “And I think you’ve seen some players follow suit.”
Where Will Dylan Raiola Land in the Transfer Portal?
Louisville has emerged as an early favorite, thanks to head coach Jeff Brohm’s track record of developing transfer quarterbacks, making the Cardinals an attractive destination. Oregon looms as a possibility if Dante Moore declares for the NFL Draft, though the Ducks’ focus remains on their College Football Playoff run.
Raiola reportedly wants to join a playoff contender rather than another rebuilding project. That desire may limit his options.
Fox Sports analyst RJ Young offered a blunt assessment of the move: “Wherever he lands next will greet him as a rental, unlike Huskers fans who believed he would play a large role in their return to national title contention.”
Young noted that Raiola’s history of movement, including three high school transfers and two college commitment flips, may shape how his next program views him.
“Raiola had everything he asked for at Nebraska,” Young said. “As a legacy with an uncle coaching the offensive line, his name carries a prestige in Lincoln that it does not anywhere else in the country.”
The 20-year-old carries an NIL valuation of approximately $2.5 million, though that figure reportedly decreased after his injury. He has two years of eligibility remaining and enough tape to interest Power Four programs looking for a proven starter.
But he’s also coming off a broken leg and leaves behind a program that protected him poorly — he absorbed 54 sacks in two seasons — and never built the supporting cast he needed to thrive.
Raiola finishes his Nebraska career with 4,819 passing yards, 31 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions across 22 starts. The Huskers went 13-9 with him under center. Respectable numbers, but nowhere near the ceiling a top-10 national recruit was supposed to reach.
The college football transfer portal window opens Jan. 2.
