Dylan Raiola is afraid to talk about anything related to the reasons why he de-committed from Ryan Day's Ohio State Buckeyes when asked about the subject at Big Ten Football Media Days.
Raiola gave a generic player-speak answer that reads like he asked ChatGPT on the spot how to answer the question without revealing anything.
"It was just a decision that myself and my family made. I’m not going to go too deep into that just because I’m focused on being present where I’m at now. I still have a lot of respect for Coach Day and his program, but yeah, I’m happy at Nebraska," Raiola said.
Raiola can't say "the money wasn't right." For some reason, though, he could've explained that the chance to start as a freshman drove him to the Nebraska Cornhuskers instead of the Buckeyes or Georgia Bulldogs, whom he also committed to but reneged on his word, but chose not to.
Raiola is one of the most particular players about his image the sport has seen since the dawn of the NIL era. His Patrick Mahomes cosplaying has become the subject of internet memes, which is likely by design. Agents know how to bait and manipulate algorithms to increase their clients' worth.
The Raiola-Mahomes cosplay is a PR stroke of genius. And it got even better when he hit a bait-and-switch on the public by saying he'd have Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant at his game if he can have any athlete watch him.
Clearly, Raiola isn't about giving any details about his contract negotiations or interpersonal relationships with coaches he lied to about playing for, though.
The odds are high that the details wouldn't paint him in a good light at all. Hence, multiple commitments and de-commitments before landing at a program that's nowhere near OSU or UGA in national relevance and had the funds to drastically overpay a big name.
Championship teams don't do that. That's why Ohio State has one and Raiola's Huskers don't.