Kirk Herbstreit was amongst the people who encouraged 5-star quarterback Dylan Raiola to flip from Georgia to Nebraska, according to new comments from Raiola’s father.

Raiola’s father, Dominic Raiola, shared that intel in an interview with Rivals’ Adam Gorney this week. Dominic, who also played at Nebraska, detailed some of his conversation with Herbstreit.

“When [Herbstreit] saw the smoke about Dylan entertaining Nebraska, he called me,” Raiola said. “He said, ‘dude, is this true? He’s got to do it.’

“His affinity for Nebraska, for a guy like that, to tell me and get behind me. I knew he needed to do it. But I wasn’t going to sit here and say ‘You need to go change that place or be a part of the change of that place.’ So when Kirk told me that … I’ve had other coaches reach out to me and say the place is special. Coach (Matt) Rhule is a special leader.”

Here’s video of Dominic’s comments:

It’s unclear when this conversation between Herbstreit and Raiola happened. Dylan flipped his commitment from Georgia to Nebraska on Dec. 18 and officially signed with the Huskers 2 days later.

Raiola, who attends Buford High School in Georgia, was a big loss for the Bulldogs on the recruiting trail. He was the No. 21 overall player and the No. 3 quarterback in the country for the class of 2024, per 247Sports Composite rankings.

In addition to his father’s connection to the program, Raiola’s uncle (Donovan Raiola) currently serves as Nebraska’s offensive line coach. Raiola will now step into a situation where he could be Nebraska’s starting quarterback as a true freshman in 2024.

Georgia was still able to sign a quarterback in the class of 2024. The Bulldogs signed 4-star Ryan Puglisi as part of their No. 1-ranked signing class for this cycle, per 247Sports Composite rankings.

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