The Nebraska football program shared a photo of Dylan Raiola moving into his dorm on social media, which was seen almost 14 million times in a week. His hairstyle and sunglasses led many to comment on how much he looked like Patrick Mahomes.
This story shows the excitement and high hopes for Raiola, who is the highest-rated recruit in the program’s history, especially among fans who have suffered through seven consecutive losing seasons, the Cornhuskers’ worst period since the 1940s.
Raiola was ranked as the No. 1 or 2 quarterback prospect in the 2024 recruiting class and had committed to Ohio State and Georgia before switching to Nebraska in December. Anticipation has been growing ever since.
On Wednesday, he was named the starting quarterback for the Aug. 31 game against UTEP.
How does Raiola, the son of former Nebraska All-America center Dominic Raiola, manage to ignore the attention?
“First, my faith,” he said. “I wake up every morning, give my devotion, and it sets your day off right and you protect yourself from the world. And then I have great parents that have raised me correctly and have taught me the way to act and how to be around people and keep the distractions out.”
It also helps that his uncle, Donovan Raiola, is the offensive line coach and his sister, Taylor, is a graduate manager for football recruiting. “To have family in the building is very comforting,” Dylan said.
As for the similarities between Mahomes and Raiola, both wear jersey No. 15, and Raiola has trained with Mahomes’ longtime personal coach, Jeff Christensen. Raiola said it’s fine if fans think he looks like Mahomes, but he can only hope to play like him.
“Just try to do my thing,” he said, pausing. “My hair? I guess it looks like his.”
