"I want to see him play fearless": Nebraska HC Matt Rhule reveals his expectation for 5-star QB Dylan Raiola in CFB 2024 season

Dylan Raiola’s commitment saga is one heck of a story. The highly-rated quarterback gave his commitment to Ohio State in 2022 only to flip to Georgia in 2023. Another turnaround came on the national signing day in December when he flipped to his father’s alma mater, Nebraska.

Without a doubt, Raiola has a better chance at the starting spot in his freshman season with the Cornhuskers than the Bulldogs. He has already enrolled early at the university and has been involved with the team in workouts, anticipating the upcoming challenge.

On a recent episode of “College GameDay Podcast,” Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said:

“Based upon what I see, he’s in here all the time. He’s committed to doing this and doing this at a high level. So, I want to see him compete. I want to see him have fun. I want to see him play fearless. You know you’re gonna make mistakes.”

The need for Dylan Raiola to ease the pressure

Dylan Raiola is teaming up with Nebraska as one of the highest-rated prospects in his class. He was at a time at the top of Sportskeeda’s class of 2024 composite rankings. With a lot of expectations, as Raiola steps into college football, Rhule believes he needs to ease off the pressure:

“I told Dylan the moment he got here, ‘Don’t worry about being the five-star quarterback. Don’t worry about being all these things. Expectation weighs us down. Just play ball.’”

Rhule said that he's concerned about how his quarterback room options progress.

“And I’m way more interested in where Dylan, Danny, Heinrich, where all of our guys end up. Not where they are in year one. That’s one of the things I think that’s stressing out our young people is they’re so worried about like, ‘Am I gonna play?’

"Worry about where you are as a senior. Worry about where you are when the time is over.”

Ahead of the 2024 college football season, Dylan Raiola has a huge chance of securing the starting spot for the Cornhuskers. The team had uncertainties at quarterback last season, and this opportunity that comes with that is probably why Raiola committed to Nebraska.