A now viral clip of Dylan Raiola’s father is making major headlines this week. In a recent interview, the elder Raiola discussed a phone call from Kirk Herbstreit prior to his son’s commitment to Nebraska.

Did the college football personality influence the passer’s decision? Fans are debating on social media.

Raiola’s recruitment was an interesting one. A roller coaster ride of sorts, the nation’s top ranked quarterback committed to three different schools throughout the process.

The first was Ohio State, though they’d become an afterthought during Raiola’s senior season at Buford High School. The signal caller flipped his pledge to defending national champion Georgia prior to his final year, and he kept to that decision up through the very last week of his recruitment.

Set to become the headliner in college football’s No. 1 class, he suddenly had a change of heart.

His father’s alma mater Nebraska had made a late push under new head coach Matt Rhule, and Raiola was giving the program some serious consideration.

The fact that his uncle works on the Cornhuskers’ staff made the decision all the more difficult.

In the end, he flipped his commitment once again just days before the early signing period. He immediately became the top prospect in the ‘Huskers 2024 cycle giving Rhule a foundation to build around in Lincoln.

Raiola has all the talent in the world. With a rocket arm and prototypical size, he can compete for early playing time at Nebraska.

The Cornhusker might need to send Kirk Herbstreit a ‘thank you’ card for that late flip.

Raiola’s father recently discussed his son’s recruitment, as well as a phone call received from the College GameDay host prior to making that change of heart official.

“I’ll bring up one guy’s name – his name’s Kirk Herbstreit,” Raiola said. “When he saw the smoke about Dylan entertaining Nebraska, he called me and was like, ‘Is this true?’

“‘He’s got to do it! His affinity for Nebraska,’ For a guy like that to get behind it… I knew he needed to do it, but I wasn’t going to say, ‘You need to change that place or be a part of that place.’ When Kirk said this, I was like, ‘Man… this place is special.’”

Herbstreit’s opinion certainly seemed to hold some weight with the family. Did it give Raiola that extra nudge to make the flip?

Who knows? UGA fans won’t be happy to hear about the outside influence, though they still have a plethora of five-star talent waiting in the QB room.

We’ll see how it all works out for Dylan Raiola in Lincoln!

READ MORE:

Dylan Raiola’s dad: Kirk Herbstreit encouraged QB to flip from Georgia to Nebraska

Dylan Raiola’s father revealed in an interview the high-profile quarterback flipped from Georgia to Nebraska at the encouragement of Kirk Herbstreit.

In an interview with Rivals, Dominic Raiola, a former All-American at Nebraska, said the “College GameDay” analyst” called him about the idea.

“When he saw the smoke about Dylan entertaining Nebraska, he was like, ‘Call me,’” Dominic Raiola said of Herbstreit. “’Dude, Is this true? He got to do it. He got to do it.’ (Herbstreit’s) affinity for Nebraska, for a guy like that to tell me and get behind me. Look, 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.”

Dylan Raiola had committed to Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs before flipping prior to the early signing period. Raiola, from Buford High School in Georgia, is the nephew of Dominic Raiola, the Cornhuskers’ offensive line coach.

“I firmly believe that Nebraska is in my blood,” Raiola told ESPN in December. “It’s a great opportunity to be part of something bigger than myself. Nebraska is a special place.”

Dylan Raiola rated the No. 2 overall player in the country by 247 Sports, originally committed to Ohio State, but flipped to Georgia last May. He has played at three high schools in three different states the last three years — Burleson (Texas) High School as a sophomore, Pinnacle (Phoenix) High School as a junior and Buford as a senior.