Ohio State Football: Raiola de-commitment stings for Ryan Day

As the Ohio State football team continues to prepare for Georgia in the Peach Bowl, a major de-commitment could haunt Ryan Day.

The Ohio State football program is reeling after the announced de-commitment of star 2024 quarterback recruit Dylan Raiola. Raiola’s decision stings because he has said multiple times that while other schools were contacting him, he remained loyal to Ohio State. He was also Ohio State’s top-rated recruit. Ever.

The Buckeyes were on the verge of creating an all-time great class and Raiola was the headlining No. 1 overall recruit in 2024. Ohio State also got word that the No. 2 overall recruit in that class, wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, verbally committed to the program a few days ago.

It’s assumed that Raiola will commit to Nebraska, where his uncle had just been retained as offensive line coach by Matt Rhule. His father, Dominic, was also a Cornhusker. It’s hard to compete against family ties to a school, especially knowing now that Nebraska just hired a competent coach.

But nonetheless, Ohio State just missed out on a huge quarterback recruit. This comes on the heels of Quinn Ewers bolting for Texas, so Ryan Day has swung and missed a couple of times on some great prospects.

Hope is not lost though. The Buckeyes have a five-star quarterback in Kyle McCord waiting in the wings and another top-50 prospect in Devin Brown behind him. The Buckeyes will be just fine at the position for the foreseeable future.

But it does leave Ohio State without a quarterback for the 2024 class. With still over a year before that class signs, Ryan Day and Corey Dennis will need to re-evaluate prospects and come up with a solution. This one sting because of that talent that Ohio State lost out on, however they will replace him with a talented player.

I just hope losing out on Raiola doesn’t haunt Ryan Day and this program. He could be a generational talent at the most important position in sports.