Georgia football fans propose wild solution to rumors of 5-star flip
By John Buhler
Always be 'crootin', but don't tweet at recruits. Those are the golden rules when it comes to high school football recruitment. It is a never-ending cycle of schmoozing and pandering to get prospective teenagers to come to your university to come play some football for you. It is why five-stars like Dylan Raiola are not sure things to places like Georgia because of NIL and recruitment.
Raiola flipped from Ohio State to Georgia nearly a year ago. The Arizona native is the son of former Detroit Lions center and Nebraska legend Dominic Raiola. While The Raiolas are close with Uncle Matthew Stafford from Dominic's days playing for Detroit, there is a fairly decent chance Dylan flips to UNL. Factor in that he is a legacy and his uncle Donovan Raiola is also the Cornhuskers' line coach.
If Raiola were to flip, that is totally fine. He is a kid and should be able to play college football wherever he wants to. Odds are, he probably grew up wanting to play for the Huskers in Lincoln. Unfortunately, Nebraska has been down for the better part of a decade now, not even going to bowl games. However, that all looks to be changing under new head coach Matt Rhule. He wants to flip Raiola bad.
To prevent Raiola from boarding a plane to Nebraska, one Georgia fan suggest doing everything in their power to get Friday's 2:11 p.m. ET flight out of Hartsfield-Jackson canceled to prevent him from going to Lincoln. Does anyone work for Delta, basically? Surely, Raiola could connect somewhere outside of Atlanta and still get to Lincoln in a bit. Omaha is also a destination he could fly into as well...
So instead of getting a little close with airport security, Dawg Nation may just need to relax a bit.
Georgia football fan has crazy plan to stop Dylan Raiola from Nebraska
Look. You can't really blame a kid for wanting to play for the team he grew up rooting for. Given that Raiola is a legacy at Nebraska, the Cornhuskers were always going to be in play to get him. If he goes to Lincoln, doesn't like what he sees and returns to Georgia, then good for Dawg Nation. If he decides to flip and ruin Dawg fans' holiday season, enjoy going roughly 6-6 next year in an expanded Big Ten.
The news of Raiola possibly flipping has everything to do Carson Beck potentially returning for one more year, as well as Kirby Smart probably looking to add a quarterback in the portal at some point. With Brock Vandagriff transferring to SEC rival Kentucky, that would leave Beck, Gunner Stockton and four-star commit Ryan Puglisi as the featured pieces in the Georgia quarterback room if Raiola flips.
If Raiola wants early playing time and an opportunity to start for an ascending team, Nebraska is not a bad spot, especially because UNL is one of a few programs boosted the most by NIL, along with the likes of Michigan State, Tennessee and Texas A&M. In truth, I would not blame him for wanting to go to Nebraska. However, if he decides to go play for Rhule in Lincoln, he is never going to win the playoff.
Nebraska was always in play, but him choosing to move to Georgia to go play at Buford said a ton, too.