Way back during the 2023 season, the Ohio State Buckeyes briefly had the top receiver and the top quarterback in the country committed to them. Jeremiah Smith was the top overall recruit in the class of 2024, and he has proven to be an absolute stud for the Buckeyes.
Dylan Raiola was briefly committed to the Ohio State Buckeyes as well. Raiola would go on to de-commit from the Buckeyes before committing to Georgia. He didn't end up there, either. Raiola eventually wound up at Nebraska after they hired a family member to the coaching staff.
With Raiola playing for the Cornhuskers, the Buckeyes crushed him in his first meeting against them in 2024. Nebraska was not good this past season, and now Raiola has decided that he has had enough of his time in Lincoln. Raiola has entered the Transfer Portal.
Former Ohio State football commit Dylan Raiola enters the Transfer Portal
According to ESPN's Pete Thamel, Raiola will be entering the Transfer Portal when it opens up. He will have two years of eligibility left, but he will be hoping to use only one of those years. Raiola believes that he is good enough to leave for the NFL early, but that will depend on his new destination.
Raiola is admitting a mistake by not keeping his commitment to the Buckeyes. Had he actually come to Columbus, he could have been throwing to Smith for three years before moving on to the pros. Instead, he will be trying to find a new home. Ohio State seems to have been just fine without him.
In the two seasons Raiola has played, the Buckeyes have won the national championship and have had another quarterback become a Heisman Finalist. Julian Sayin is pretty clearly a much better QB than Raiola has been, and that doesn't look like it will change anytime soon.
Raiola might be looking to chase the most amount of money a program will offer him. That's not the kind of player Ryan Day wants in his program.