DAYTON RAIOLA WITHDRAWS FROM THE HUSKERS’ RECRUITMENT CLASS OF 2026
The 2025 season was undoubtedly full of drama-filled headlines. And this week after the bye week, and after no new news in Monday and Tuesday’s news conferences, it has seemed relatively devoid of anything beyond the upcoming Penn State game and preparations for this tilt.
But then hello Wednesday morning!
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Dayton Raiola has reportedly left the Huskers’ already weak 2026 recruiting class after committing for more than a year.
He’s the No. 99 composite quarterback among the four recruiting services and has offers from Charlotte, Appalachian State and Georgia, though the Bulldogs’ offer likely has expired since they have a commitment from No. 2 5-star QB Jared Curtis. His early commitment and professed love for the program may be why the list isn’t as long.
The likely reason for the departure was to watch an already tight window of playing time become even tighter after true freshman TJ Latif’s successful performance against UCLA, which will be followed by more on-the-job training and work with the first unit against Penn State, Iowa and a bowl game opponent to be determined following the season-ending injury to Dayton’s brother Dylan.
In addition to Dylan getting two more years of eligibility and Latif getting three more (his five games would burn his redshirt potential), nationally ranked No. 4 QB Trae Taylor will enter the picture in 2027. Instead of waiting an additional two weeks to find out what happens with Latif, a decision could have been made to put his name back in the ring now with Early Signing Day on Dec. 3-5 looming.
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Matt Rhule reportedly visited Dayton’s Buford yesterday, so this seems like a mutual decision on the subject. And if we rename the opening –
Dayton Raiola, brother of current Husker QB Dylan Raiola, nephew of offensive line coach Donovan Raiola and son of former Husker All-American Dominic Raiola, has withdrawn from the 2026 recruiting class..
– Then it becomes understandable why announcing the withdrawal of a 3-star quarterback who is not in the top 250-300 players nationally would cause some posts and panic online. Will Dylan leave too?? Does this mean Donovan is fired? Have all ties with Raiola been cut???
The fact that Rhule took a trip to Buford suggests that Occam’s Razor is in full play here, that is, “the simplest explanation is usually the right one,” and that Dayton is simply looking for an option that offers a better chance most of the time. He’ll likely get some attention because he’s now one of the highest-rated quarterbacks available in the 2026 class.
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Until more news on this topic arrives over the next few weeks, there will likely be a lot of chatter along the lines of the two paragraphs above. Matt Rhule’s conference on Thursday may shed more light on this topic, so we’ll report here tomorrow if that’s the case.