Matt Rhule addresses how firing Donovan Raiola impacts Dylan Raiola’s future

The Nebraska Cornhuskers had some issues along the offensive line this past season, which ultimately led to Matt Rhule dismissing offensive line coach Donovan Raiola. The uncle of star quarterback Dylan Raiola, this naturally led to a few questions about his future.

Rhule addressed the situation on Tuesday. However, as is his standard policy, he refused to discuss the future of Dylan Raiola, the same as he wouldn’t discuss future choices of another player.

“Again, so sorry,” Matt Rhule said. “But you guys know I’m not going to talk about any player’s future. Like, I’m just not doing that. That’s their job. It’s each player’s job. They have to announce their own thing because I would never want to misspeak.”

One thing Matt Rhule did clarify was that he addressed moving on from Donovan Raiola with both Dylan and the entire team. It wasn’t an easy move to make. So, that open communication became important to Rhule throughout the process.

“But, yeah, I talked to the whole team about Donnie and certainly to Dylan. That’s his uncle. He loves him. So, I certainly talked to him but I talked to all the o-linemen, I talked to all the guys. I mean, Donnie was loved by a lot of guys. So, at the end of the day, I don’t like firing people. I don’t like affecting their families, I don’t like moving on from people,” Rhule said.

“But I do have to do what I think is right for the program. So, I certainly talked to Dylan and I certainly talked to the o-linemen. I talked to the team. In terms of people’s futures, that’s up to each person. Emmett [Johnson] came and saw me and told me, ‘Hey, this is what I’m gonna do.’ I told him how proud I was of him, but that’s his announcement to make, not mine.

This comes after, in late November, it was rumored that Dylan Raiola could be moving on from the program. His brother, Dayton, had decommitted from the program, and there were reports that the program was exploring potential future options at quarterback.

Dylan Raiola was a five-star recruit in the Class of 2024 and quickly became the team’s starting quarterback. This season, he played in nine games and completed 72.4 percent of his passes for 2,000 yards and 18 touchdowns to six touchdowns. However, his season was cut short by a broken leg. Since then, he’s still been working out with the team, trying to get back on the field.

“Oh, yeah,” Rhule said. “It just looks different, right? He’s in treatment, or, but walking over here, he was on his scooter going into treatment. So, Dylan’s done everything.”

TJ Lateef would replace Dylan Raiola to wrap up the season. He’ll likely continue to fill in for Raiola through the bowl game on December 31st.