Former Ohio State Football commit is transferring schools again

Former Ohio State football commit, and the nation’s number one overall recruit in the class of 2024, Dylan Raiola, has decided to transfer high schools once again according to Dawgs Daily. Raiola plans to play his final season of high school football at Buford High School in Buford, Georgia. Buford is a northeast suburb of Atlanta and won the Georgia state championship three years straight from 2019-2021.

Raiola transferring schools before a season begins is nothing new. The young quarterback has done so three times before, making Buford his fourth high school in as many years. Last season, Raiola played for Chandler High School outside of Phoenix, Arizona. His sophomore year he was the quarterback for Burleson High School, a suburb of Fort Worth, Texas. His freshman year he played for Pinnacle High School in Phoenix.

It is evident that Raiola has problems staying committed. Not only has he changed high schools three times now, but after announcing a commitment to Ohio State in May of 2022, he de-committed only seven months later and reopened his recruitment before finally landing on the back-to-back National Champion Georgia Bulldogs.

Far be it from me to judge the parenting decisions of Dylan’s famous NFL father Dominic, but you can’t honestly say that playing for four different high schools in four years is good for the emotional and educational development of a teenage boy.

Not only is the school-hopping questionable but stop and think about the other young boys who are being affected by these decisions. I’m sure Buford High School had a quarterback who was working hard and excited to be the man this season, who now will either have to sit and wait another season or if he is a senior, switch positions if he is able.

This kind of behavior reeks of entitlement. Even if there are no “bag men” involved in the decision to bring the number one overall 2024 recruit closer to Athens, Georgia before he officially becomes a Bulldog following the 2023 high school season, you can be sure that he has a gigantic NIL deal in place waiting for him the moment he officially walks onto campus. And that’s fine. Those are currently the rules that are set in place.

I for one am happy he is no longer an Ohio State football commit. Even if he was still committed to the Buckeyes and he wanted to play for a central Ohio high school like Pickerington North, I would still think this is a bad decision. It proves to me that he is willing to jump ship at the drop of a hat and do what he and his father thinks is best for him and his career and not what’s best for the team.

Raiola may become a Heisman and National Champion-winning quarterback for Georgia. He is indeed that talented. But if things don’t go his way and adversity hits him in the face within the first couple of seasons of being in Athens, I guarantee he will be in the transfer portal before you can say, “Go Dawgs.”