What happened with Kyle McCord? What does it mean for Dylan Raiola?

Welcome back to the HUSCer Big Red YouTube channel

I'm Chris Peterson. And joining me as always is Danny Gillette. And we're back here to talk more Nebraska football news

We got a bunch of things happening with Kyle McCord, with Dylan Rayola, Daniel Kalen

So we're going to get to that in just a second. Before we do, please make sure if you haven't already to hit the subscribe button, make sure that you like and share our content

We definitely appreciate that. So, yeah, Danny, what in the hell happened with Kyle McCord yesterday

Everything was trending. the crystal balls, the expert predictions. Everybody said he was coming

and then all of a sudden, Kyle McCord drops the hammer and said he's moving on from Nebraska

and considering other schools. What's your takeaway from this? That Dylan Rayola is a silent commitment

and that they want Rayola to be the starter. I mean, that's the only thing that I could see

is being, you know, the reason why he decommitted because truth be told, as good as it sounded

having two five-star quarterbacks in the quarterback room with one sitting, you know, I mean

there could have been some problems there. Like I could see where that would be, you know, tough to work out

But in any event, now I just hope that Rayola commits, you know, signs the letter of intent

and, you know, quite honestly, is ready to play in August. Because the way the quarterback room looks right now, I mean

we need to lock up the Raola commitment at the very least. Yeah, it's interesting how it all went down

You know, like I said, the crystal balls. I mean, they usually put those things in for a reason

They're not just quite guessing. But, you know, I don't know if it's a matter of, you know

maybe there's just not enough NIL money for both of these guys because, yeah

I mean, Matt Rule is pretty much right, whether it's a high school quarterback or a transfer portal quarterback

I mean, you still, the NIL money is still about the same. So that potentially could have factored into it

And Pete NACOs from on three, you know, he did a show last night a little before McCord, you know, announced that

And he said one of the driving factors behind him entering the portal was NIL

So, and he wanted to basically be guaranteed a starting job, which, I mean, I just don't see Matt Rule doing that

I, you know, I don't see him especially with, and how do you do that with Dylan Rayola

I mean, if Dylan Rayola comes in there and lights it up and plays, you know, amazing, I mean, you have to

to give him the job. So, I mean, you can't sit there and say, well, regardless of what happens

you're going to start next year, Kyle. I mean, I think it probably was like, yeah, there's

going to be a competition. And if you win, you'll be the starter. If not, you know, that's how it is

So, I mean, and I'm not sure if that's what happened, but that could be just some of the thought

process. That's, you know, for Kyle McCork, he could go somewhere else where there's not

a Dylan Raola there. And plus the other thing, too, is if, you know, he happens to struggle

you know, then people are obviously the pressure is going to ramp up for, you know, Dylan Raola to

get into the game. So those are a few things that I could see, you know, kind of pushing him in this

direction. But, yeah, it's still, I mean, it's still a bummer, you know, because it would have been

ideally, you know, like we said, the ideal situation, McCord plays for a year, Raolo sits

you know, plays maybe four games and starts next season. You know, that all sounds nice and good

but it doesn't, things don't always work out that way. So it's, I'm interested to see where

Kyle McCord goes now. You know, I had heard Syracuse, Rutgers, Pittsburgh, you know, definitely probably in the

mix since he's from Pennsylvania. And I know they need a quarterback, but man, it's like, it's, you know, I mean, at least with

Nebraska, you have the tradition and it feels like a bit, you still feel like you're

at a big program. Like, where's this guy going to go unless it's like Miami or somewhere that's not going to

be like a major drop off from Ohio State? and you know Miami was taking cam ward out to a nice restaurant on Tuesday as we saw online and so I don't know if Miami is going to leave without securing Cam Ward anyway

you know I think when you play with you know the big boys and you recruit high level prospects this is one of the things that you have to deal with and I think

think we're seeing Matt Ruhl recruit at a level where, quite frankly, we haven't seen in

quite some time. And I would rather, you know, have this happen than to have us not try at all

I know it stings when we don't land some of these high level guys, but, you know, at least we're

trying. And I know that's not, you know, the news that people want to hear, but, you know

keep in mind Dylan Rayola felt kind of snubbed by Nebraska early in his recruitment process because one of our former head coaches couldn even show up for a meeting Now we talking about okay let hope we land Dylan Raola on this visit

because he could potentially be our starting quarterback, right? So, I mean, in that respect, I think we've come a long way

Yeah, so what does, I guess that's the big question moving forward. You know, with Kyle McCord, it's a bummer, but, you know, no use in crying about spilt milk

It's gone now. He's done. He's not coming here. So what does it mean for Dylan Raola

And I guess to me, it means that Nebraska has to get it. They have to 100%

But everything does, you know, feel like it's trending in that direction

You know, there's all the all the four, three Husker guys at 24-7, the three husker guys that on three, Steve Wilfong, Chad Simmons, Kip Adams, the Georgia 24-7 guy

They've all put in their predictions, as we've seen, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to happen

And we saw that with Kyle McCord, but there was also, you know, I do think Kyle McCord would have happened if this Dylan Rayola thing didn't

You know, I think that that definitely threw a wrench into it. So as much as the people want to get, you know, I saw like them ripping the crystal ball, like these guys don't know anything

And it's like, well, a lot of things have changed in the last 48 hours that weren't expected to be, you know, when Kyle McCord came to this visit, like Dylan Rayola wasn't even on the radar

So I'll give those guys a pass. but in terms of, you know, Matt Ruel and Nebraska, it makes it, you've got to get, you know, Dylan Raola in the fold

And, I mean, I know it is hard for freshman quarterbacks. There's been, you know, like Dante Moore somewhat struggled, but Caleb Williams did it at Oklahoma

I mean, I think it was like the sixth or seventh game that he started, you know, after Spencer Rattler kind of struggled

And that worked out really well for him. And it's very possible that Nebraska just, you know, and I'm not, I still think that Dylan's going to have to compete for the job with Chaba or whoever is here, obviously

but, you know, if he if he flashes the talent and he can, you know, take care of the football and do those things, like I see no reason why not to just roll with a kid and, you know, there's going to be some bumps and bruises on the way

But I think he's got the talent level that's that's going to make it worthwhile

And, you know, if he can start figuring it out next year, that just puts you even further ahead of the eight ball going into 2025 and 2026

And honestly, you swapped out one. elite 11 quarterback, Daniel Kaelin, for another one in Dylan Raola. So, I mean, it's not like

you're necessarily downgrading here. And, you know, it's not like you're necessarily in the Kyle

McCord, you know, case. It's not like, in my opinion, there's going to be a complete drop-off

of talent to the point where it seems like a major loss. It definitely stings for depth purposes

that I would have loved McCord, but it's not like we're getting a slouch with Rayola

And like I said yesterday, if Daniel Kalin's visiting Michigan State, I don't know that it's 100% that he'll leave if Raola joins the class, but, you know, probably

But the thing about it is that Michigan State, you know, it's going to be, you know, they've got Aiden Chili's who is transferring there from Oregon State and he's got three more years

So, you know, Daniel's looking at sitting there for, you know, at least, you know, probably the same amount of time

Because if everything goes well with Dylan Rayola, he's going to be heading to the NFL

draft after the 2026 season. I mean, that's his goal. That's the goal of every, you know, Caleb Williams type

You know, they want to play three seasons and go to the draft. So, I mean, theoretically, Kaelin could come here, redshirt, be the backup for two years

and still have two years to be the starter if he wanted to go that route, which probably

is not going to be that dissimilar. If he goes to Michigan State, it's going to be a very similar deal

Red shirt for a year, sit for two years. You know, unless Chili's is ready to go to the NFL draft in two years, which maybe he is

he's only, you know, played in like nine games and has four touchdowns, but he's the number one

transfer portal quarterback right now, if you guys aren't familiar with him. And so at any rate

like I understand, you know, Kaelin wanting to leave, but it's not like there's a slam dunk

situation where he's like starting in a year or two at Michigan State either. No, but I think, you know, this is giving him a chance to explore his other options. And, you know

he had and from what I've seen he has a technically decommitted so we'll see what happens there

I mean we do need depth in the quarterback room and I just hope raola works out because if

raola I don't know doesn't commit or you know something like that then we're then I think we're

in a little bit of trouble yeah I mean then we I think we would you know sign Kalin and then it

would be back to the transfer portal which I still think they need to look at the transfer portal for a starter

That's my, you know, that my opinion And I know that people you know Casey Thompson was in town yesterday And I saw the you know like Brian Munson retweeted you know his commitment from like 20

22 or whatever last night. So that was kind of interesting. You know

I don't, I just don't see that being a possible. I mean, for one

I don't know that he's healthy. He's not healthy yet. He's coming off an ACL tear

I believe. And then he's got to get the waiver first. And then we're right back to

you know, Chibapurdy or Casey Thompson or Dylan Raola. So, I mean, I don't, yeah, it's, I'm not guaranteeing that they're going to add a quarterback in the portal

I think they'll probably look, but I don't know that they're going to find one that's like a clear up grade over Chippa Purdy

And people were, you know, pointing out he was in the student directory and stuff like that

My name is still in my college's student directory and I graduated six years ago

So don't be pulled by that either. Yeah, and they people, people at Adrian Martin

Yeah, they, they, somebody else made that point with like Adrian Martinez. and other guys like that

It's been years, so, yeah. Yeah, no, it takes them a while. I think it takes any college a while to clear out any student directory names

But I still have my college email, actually, too. But anyway, yeah, I mean, wouldn't that be interesting if things came full circle

and somehow Casey Thompson was back on the roster, kind of, you know, making amends

for the mistake that was Jeff Sims at the time? Yeah, it would be interesting

Honestly, I think I would just go with Chubba. I mean, like for this year, just to, you know, let him, I mean, I just don't see anybody out there in the portal that's going to fit what Nebraska really needs because you, because Rayola's not going to, you know, you're not going to bring in like a Malik Murphy, for instance, who just hit the portal yesterday because he's got three years of eligibility

So that puts him directly in conflict with Rayola. So that's, you have to be really careful here

And that's the same thing with, you know, like Malik Murphy wants to play. You know, that's why he's leaving Texas

So is he going to come to a program that just added a five-star quarter? back, no. I mean, that doesn't make any sense. So that's where Nebraska is kind of in a bit of a

tough spot. They're going to have to go get one of those, you know, like a true veteran guy that

probably isn't going to start, you know, and that could be their best option. And maybe it's just

rolling with Cheva and Heinrich Harbor at this point. That could be the best option, too, because

I mean, Cheva knows the system. He's going to be healthier next year. The guys around him, I think

are going to be better. And, you know, I mean, he did play terribly in the last, you know, three games

So hopefully he can develop a little bit more. And, you know, if a Raola is not ready, then he can kind of guide the ship until he is

But it wouldn't surprise me at all if they just, you know, if Rayola shows enough ability

to just be like, hey, we're just going to ride with you and we're going to live with the

we're going to live with the bumps and bruises for the first year. but, you know, because I mean, if you think about it, like, even if Dylan Raola comes here and they're like seven

win seven or eight games, like even if they don't set the world on fire, but he, he has some moments, you know

and then you have that momentum going forward. And then when you're going into the next year's transfer portal

not that, you know, rule said we're going to add a ton, but those few key playmakers, you know

they're going to want to come, like maybe a big time receiver or somebody that can help you get over the top

It's going to be a lot easier to sell those pieces coming here when you've got a quarterback that can take you to the playoff

Yeah, and quite honestly, I think quarterback development is important. So I'd rather go through the development process

which is something we've been missing in previous coaching regimes, than to pull a kid because he had one bad game and then, you know

bench him for the rest of his career or whatever. And I understand that sounds like a lot of what Scott Frost did with Adrian Martinez

but I think Rule will do a better job. job of being able to assess if something's not working or, you know, assess if, if Rayola may need

you know, some, you know, time to just get acclimated to things

Yeah, definitely. And it's just, you know, the, he's played high level football for a lot of his, I mean

Buford, they're playing big time level football. So, I mean, I feel like he should be fairly ready

I feel like he's definitely going to enroll early. he may never, he might take this trip and might just enroll

You know, he might not leave Nebraska after he takes this visit. Because obviously if they, you know, his family's not going to be living in Georgia anymore

I don't think, you know, I don't think that's like they're permanent, you know, I don't know the situation, but it seems like they, you know, are going to be relocating

if he's not going to Georgia. So we'll see. I mean, it's going to be, they definitely have to get him

They got to get Dylan Raola And then you know I guess the other thing to I was thinking about two is probably you know in my mind this probably means Nebraska not getting Julian Fleming That just my opinion

I hope maybe that changes. Yeah, that's what I was thinking, too. And that's what I kind of wrote last night

I mean, this puts Julian Fleming's future with Nebraska in doubt, which is kind of a bummer

But, I mean, again, you're looking at landing a five-star quarterback. I mean, it's not so bad, you know

And DeMond Demas tweeted like a corn cob last night. And he did tell Sean Callahan that he has been in contact with the coaching staff

So maybe they're going to circle back there. You know, he's a former five-star guy from played at Texas A&M is at a juco right now

But it's a dynamic guy. And it wasn't, I'm trying to think of what, you know, his criminal issue was

But the coach there at the Juco College, you know, says he's, he's, he's, totally a great guy and that you should not, you know, have any concerns about adding

into your program, basically. So that could open the door for him to be added back

And I do think that they'll try to, you know, if they don't get Julian Fleming, they'll try to add somebody else in the transfer portal at that position

And quite honestly, you have Malachi Coleman, Jalen Lloyd, and, you know, all these guys

to try to help Dylan Raola as well. I mean, that's not, you know, a bad group either

So there is talent on the roster. and then you talk about the guys coming in

McMorris and Hall and Cardinaldson, you know, and I think this Rayola commitment doesn't affect that

But, you know, you have guys that are going to be able to help you. So it's not like Nebraska hasn't done enough on their end

in terms of recruiting to get impact receivers. These next two years in terms of just talent and, you know

recruiting ability at the tight end and wide receiver positions, I think are going to help Rayola a lot

Yeah, and this class, you know, Dave Bun Hall, Isaiah McMorris, Quinn Clark, you know, going back to, you know, even last year's class

I mean, Jaden Doss on top of Coleman and Lloyd, you know, Bryce Turner is still out there

I mean, I'm. Demetris Bell, who we didn't even see from last year's class? Yeah, Demetrius Bell

I mean, it wouldn't shock me like if, you know, I know Bryce Turner, they're talking about him on defense

but, I mean, I think this spring will be interesting to see kind of where he winds up because I think he could go either way

Well, I think the wide receiver playbook is kind of hard to learn a little bit, so we'll see

Yeah, I mean, yeah, that's definitely true. But yeah, it'll be interesting to see kind of how that shakes out

And then, you know, you got Fadoni at tied in. So, yeah, I think there's a lot of talent, you know, on this offense

Just need to have the quarterback and, you know, the defense is there. I really like Bly Hill, as I said, who's visiting this weekend for Nebraska

He's a freshman, but he had like a couple or two or three interceptions at St. Francis

His dad played in the NFL. So he, I think he's going to be an interesting pickup

And if they can add him, he could potentially slot into that secondary

And because there's really only one major kind of position that needs to be filled

And the way I look at it, Nebraska could take a corner or a safety because I think, you know, Malcolm Hartsog could play either spot

So maybe got Tommy Hill at corner. You could have Malcolm Hartsog at nickel or corner

You've got Deshawn Singleton at safety. Isaac Gifford at safety. You've got Marcus Buford at safety

So those two. coming back, Buford because of health and having a full season, and Gifford, just coming

back for one more season, is going to be absolutely huge for the defense. Yeah, and then Singleton, too, because he really was, I mean, he was playing very well before

he got injured, and it'll be interesting to see what happens with Eric Fields if they keep him

at safety or drop him back down to linebacker. They talked a lot about him during, you know, preseason camp as a guy that's, you know

a big-time playmaker, so I'm going to be interested to see what he does next year. Yeah, and the safety position was just loaded, and they do need help at linebacker

Although, as I said, with Javan Wright and, you know, John Bullock comes back

I don't think there is bad off as some people, you know, believe that they are

They do need to add, I think, you know, maybe a linebacker in the transfer portal

But you've also got guys like Dylan Rogers that, you know, are ready to step up

And, yeah, there's a lot of really good young talent on this defense, too

So a lot of things to be excited about moving forward. hopefully we will get Dylan Raola this weekend you guys the visits expected to start tomorrow so you know

we will keep you up to date on the Husker yeah at Husker bigred.com if anything major happens we will try to

come back and have a video but if not we'll probably catch you back on Monday with another episode of our

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