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Uncle of five-star QB prospect Dylan Raiola reportedly received extension at Nebraska

Published Dec. 12, 2023 8:30 p.m. ET

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Nebraska is making a late run to land Class of 2024 five-star quarterback prospect and Georgia commit Dylan Raiola ahead of the Dec. 20 early signing day. The Cornhuskers might have helped bolster their case to land the highly-touted prospect during the season.

Offensive line coach Donovan Raiola received an extension at some point during the season that upped his salary by 53%, the Omaha World-Herald first reported. Raiola is the uncle of the five-star recruit and is the only member of Matt Rhule's staff who is a holdover from previous Nebraska coach Scott Frost's staff. With the extension, Raiola is under contract through Dec. 31, 2024, giving him a similar contract length as Nebraska's other positional coaches, according to the Omaha World-Herald.

The news of Raiola's extension broke as reports of Nebraska's efforts to land a commitment from his nephew have increased in recent days. Nebraska's coaching staff told Class of 2024 quarterback commit Daniel Kaelin that they believe they can flip Raiola from Georgia and bring him to Lincoln, ESPN reported. Raiola is scheduled to visit Nebraska on Friday, 247Sports reported. Nebraska's coaches told Kaelin they would honor his commitment if they land Raiola, according to ESPN.

Additionally, Nebraska has been rumored as the favorite to land Ohio State transfer Kyle McCord. With the Cornhuskers looking to make two major additions at quarterback in the upcoming future, Rhule stressed the importance of transparency in an interview on the "Pat McAfee Show."

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"You have to find players who are coming here for the right reasons," Rhule said Tuesday. "I don't think you can recruit them. I don't think you can do a sales job. You have to tell them exactly what it's going to be like. I think, nowadays, young people want transparency. They want to know what it's going to be like.

"So, you better just keep it very real with them; tell their parents, tell them, ‘This is what it’s going to be like here.' Have conversations and relationships with them."

Rhule didn't mention the rumors of Nebraska possibly landing both quarterbacks because NCAA rules state that coaches can't publicly speak about recruits until they sign their letter of intention. 

Raiola is viewed as a consensus top-10 overall recruit in the Class of 2024. He played high school football in Texas and Arizona before transferring to Buford High School for his senior season. He was initially committed to Ohio State in May 2022, but reopened his recruitment in December of that year. He named Nebraska as one of the four finalists for his college recruitment a month later. But he picked Georgia over Nebraska, USC and Oregon in May. 

Donovan Raiola, a former NFL offensive lineman, joined Nebraska in his current role in 2022. 

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