Husker Commit Dayton Raiola Discusses Peer Recruiting, Trae Taylor, His Brother Dylan, & More

Dayton Raiola continues to play out his senior year at Buford High School. The Husker quarterback commit for the 2026 class led the Wolves to a 34-3 win on Friday, keeping their record unblemished.

Following the win, he caught up with HuskerMax to detail his current standpoint in his commitment, including working on bringing other guys with him.

“Yeah, I mean, I kind of shut down my recruitment after I committed to Nebraska. I've just been kind of recruiting other guys to come play there with me, and it's been fun. It's a lot of fun. Coaches keep in contact with me multiple times a week. So I really feel the love and support from them even after I committed,” Raiola said.

2026 QB Commit Dayton Raiola at private workout. | @dayton.raiola/Instagram

Does the Nebraska commit find these guys by himself, or are the guys that he is targeting get handed over to him by the staff?

“It's a little bit of both. Like, when guys go up there and visit, they tell me which ones to specifically get to more. And then I'll text guys, like, whoever they need me to text, or if I know already that they're on the top of our list, and I'll just reach out myself. I'm just going to text them because I mean, I want elite guys to come play with me.

"It's kind of hard because there's such a big variety of them, like at different positions and stuff. But I don't have a specific guy like in my head right now, but there's a lot that we're in contact with and close to getting, and so it'll be a fun next couple of months before early signing day.”

Raiola is the only quarterback commit for the Huskers. In the 2027 class, Trae Taylor has been committed since earlier this year. The two have already begun bonding.

Carmel Catholic High School QB and Nebraska Cornhuskers commit Trae Taylor | @all.eyes.on.ak/Instagram

“Trae and I have been up there at the same time a lot. We kind of clicked right away. I saw him; he balled out at the Boneyard 7-on-7. It was fun to see him go out there and play. But yeah, we've connected well and so, yeah, we're good.”

The next two quarterbacks to become Huskers are peer recruiting a number of the same guys.

“I mean, we never really talked about it directly, but I'm sure, like, whatever guys I'm reaching out to he would reach out to as well."

Raiola discussed what he can take away from his brother and current Husker starting quarterback Dylan Raiola's game at this point and apply it to his high school and college career.

Dayton Raiola taking a snap in high school | Christian Stahl (@thestahlflix)/Instagram

“Well, I think the way he moves through his progression so fast and efficiently, I think that's one thing that I can definitely work on. And me going up there and being able to train together and all of that, I think it'll help me for sure," Raiola said. “And there's a lot of other stuff too, like throwing on the run. protections, taken care of, like making sure I’m protected when we're in pass situations. So stuff like that.”

At this point, is it a relief for him to be committed to the Nebraska Cornhuskers so that he can focus on his high school season?

“Yeah, for sure. I mean, there's college coaches coming through our school almost every day. And, I mean, I am super appreciative of them trying to come recruit our guys, our recruiting coordinator knows like, I'm committed and that's where I'm going to go to college so it definitely helps me just focus on my game and high school for right now.”

Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule with 2026 commits Dayton Raiola (middle) and Claude Mpouma (right). | @c_pu_ma_/Instagram

Finally, Raiola left off with a message to the Nebraska fan base.

"Go Big Red!"

Nebraska has more room to grow in the 2026 class, but the commits that they do have will be very big additions, including Raiola, who is one of the bigger names in the high school realm.

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