Dylan Raiola was the star of Georgia’s 2024 recruiting class at one point. He was a five-star quarterback out of high school from Buford, GA who was the No. 2 QB in the country. Raiola was committed to Georgia for a long time, but right before signing day he flipped to Nebraska.
The biggest reason why he did so was so he could be the starting quarterback as a true freshman. That was something Kirby Smsrt wouldn’t promise him, so he took matters into his own hands and found a new school.
Fast forward to today and Raiola now finds himself as Oregon’s backup after two uneventful seasons as Nebraska’s full time starter. His career didn’t have to play out this way though because all he had to do was listen to and trust Kirby Smart and what he was preaching to him.
But when Kirby tried to tell him and his parents this he wanted to start at Nebraska lmao . Life comes at you fast man … pic.twitter.com/qT8hMabZdU
— Coach T (@DSGB1993) April 15, 2026
Dylan Raiola may regret ever leaving Georgia
Smart wanted Raiola at Georgia bad, but not bad enough to promise him the starting job. That ultimately was the reason Georgia lost him, and because of that UGA was better off without him.
Georgia has been just fine without Raiola, but the same can’t be said for him. His career never really took off at Nebraska, and after transferring to Oregon the Ducks star quarterback Dante Moore decided to return for another year instead of going pro.
Raiola said he has to “humble himself” and that is why he is fine being a backup this season. But if he had come to Georgia he would’ve already humbled himself and been in position to start at Georgia.
He however made his decision and now he has to live with the consequences. He doesn’t get to start anymore and he has to watch Georgia be one of the best teams in the country this year.
Hopefully this will be a lesson for years to come so other elite players out of high school choose to stick with Georgia instead of taking the easy way out.
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