Kirk Herbstreit: I Didn't Encourage Dylan Raiola to Flip from Georgia to Nebraska | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

ESPN college football commentator Kirk Herbstreit denied that he influenced highly touted quarterback recruit Dylan Raiola into flipping his college commitment from Georgia to Nebraska.

Dylan's father, former Nebraska star and Detroit Lions center Dominic Raiola, seemingly gave credit to Herbstreit this week for Dylan choosing Nebraska:

"When he saw the smoke about Dylan entertaining Nebraska, he called me. 'Dude, is this true? He [Dylan] got to do it. He got to do it.' His [Herbstreit] 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 had other coaches reach out to me and say the place is special. Coach [Matt] Rhule is a special leader."

Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated shared a text from Herbstreit on Friday in which Herbstreit stated that he simply praised Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule rather than saying outright that Raiola should commit to Nebraska:

Pat Forde @ByPatForde

Got some clarification from <a href="">@KirkHerbstreit</a> on his conversation with Dominic Raiola about Dylan's college choice, which ultimately became a flip from Kirby Smart and Georgia to Matt Rhule and Nebraska. Per Kirk, this is what transpired: <a href="">

During an appearance on the Paul Finebaum Show (h/t DawgNation's Connor Riley), Herbstreit further explained what happened with Raiola:

Paul Finebaum @finebaum

Kirk Herbstreit gives his take on the phone call he had with Dylan Raiola's dad before the QB recruit flipped his commitment from Georgia to Nebraska <a href="">

Herbstreit said telling someone not to go to Georgia is "the most ridiculous thing anybody would do," before adding: "But I did compliment Matt Rhule. If I'm guilty of anything, I said Matt Rhule is a good coach and he's a good man. I believe he will bring Nebraska back."

Dylan Raiola is rated as a 5-star recruit and the No. 7 overall player and No. 2 quarterback in the 2024 recruiting class by 247Sports.

Starring for Buford High School in Buford, Georgia, the 6'3", 230-pound signal-caller went 11-2 and threw for 2,819 yards, 34 touchdowns and just one interception in 2023, per 247Sports.

Raiola committed to Georgia in May 2023 in what was an apparent case of the rich getting richer, as the Bulldogs won the national championship in both 2021 and 2022 before going 13-1 this past season.

However, after taking some visits to Nebraska, Raiola de-committed from Georgia in December and decided to make his dad's alma mater his own by committing to Nebraska.

While Raiola would have been part of arguably the best program in college football had he stuck with Georgia, he likely would have had to sit behind Carson Beck for at least one season.

At Nebraska, it is entirely possible Raiola could start as a true freshman, especially after the Cornhuskers went just 5-7 last season.

On the heels of six consecutive losing seasons, Nebraska hired Rhule before the 2023 campaign, giving it a coach with a history of turning downtrodden programs around.

At his previous two collegiate head coaching stops, Rhule took Temple from 2-10 in 2013 to being a 10-win team in 2015 and 2016. Then, coached Baylor to a 1-11 record in 2017 before going 11-3 in 2019.

Nebraska is hoping for similar results, and landing a quarterback recruit the caliber of Raiola could be the break the program needed to return to relevancy.

Regardless of how he got there, Raiola's arrival is huge for the Huskers, and it may potentially result in Nebraska being a contender in the Big Ten for the first time in years.