NIL
Why ace NiJaree Canady transferred to Texas Tech
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Dave Wilson
LUBBOCK, Texas — Last July, pitcher NiJaree Canady shook college sports when she announced her transfer to Texas Tech and landed the richest softball NIL deal ever.
The reigning USA Softball National Player of the Year bolted from the hallowed halls of Stanford, where she had become a superstar after piloting the Cardinal to two straight Women’s College World Series appearances, finishing in the final four teams both times. Her new home would be on the arid plains of West Texas at a school that had never won a conference title and had won just 49% of its games — and 31% of its league games since the advent of the Big 12.
The transfer was met with awe: The Matador Club, Texas Tech’s NIL collective, made a historic play for Canady, offering a one-year, $1,050,024 contract (a million for Canady, $50k for living expenses, $24 for her jersey number).
Just more than a month after Red Raiders coach Gerry Glasco — who was hired from Louisiana on June 20, three days after Canady had entered the portal and started lining up visits — arrived in Lubbock, he landed the most valuable player in the country. He did it by pulling out all the stops, including recruiting calls from quarterback Patrick Mahomes to Canady, a Kansan who is a devoted Kansas City Chiefs fan.
Glasco, who didn’t have much in the way of NIL in Lafayette, had suddenly walked into what he believed was the best softball situation in America. Two of the Matador Club’s biggest boosters — Tracy Sellers, a former Tech softball player, and her husband, John, an oil and gas executive and former Red Raiders football player under Mike Leach — had been supporting softball for years. They donated $11 million to the athletic department in 2022, with $1 million designated for softball stadium upgrades.
Glasco said he was told Canady’s agent was initially seeking $400,000, which he thought was low for her to leave Stanford, where she was already a budding legend.
“My message was: We’re talking about Bo Jackson. We’re talking about Herschel Walker,” Glasco told the Sellers. “We’re talking about a once-in-a-generation player that’s already made a name all over America. She’s a folk hero in our sport and she’s a sophomore.”
Tracy thought it was worth making a statement at Texas Tech, a place where Sheryl Swoopes became a superstar and where the highway outside Rocky Johnson Field is named for former Red Raiders women’s basketball coach Marsha Sharp. After meeting with the star pitcher, Sellers decided if anyone was worthy of such an emphatic statement about investing in women’s sports, it was Canady.
“She is a wonderful human being,” Sellers said. “We look at it as they deserve it just as much [as male athletes]. She worked so hard to be the No. 1 pitcher in the country. … I left that meeting and thought, this is who I would love to put a lot of effort into because of who she is.”
Canady knew the spotlight would come with the news, but she hopes it opens the door for those who follow her to reap the benefits.
“There are a lot of male athletes who get that and it’s not a headline anymore,” Canady said. “I hope that happens for women’s sports, too. I feel like it can be a pressure if you let it be, but honestly, I think it’s just a privilege. I hope someone tomorrow comes in and builds it even more.”
Looking back at the Sellers’ donation for the softball facilities, the same size investment in Canady had a greater transformative impact.
This year, the Red Raiders won their first Big 12 regular-season and conference titles while Canady led the nation with a 0.81 ERA. She went 26-5, racking up the second-most wins in a season in school history. She was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year. On Friday at 5:30 p.m. ET, No. 12 seed Texas Tech (45-12), hosting its first Lubbock Regional, will play Brown (33-15).
“She definitely put Texas Tech softball on the map,” Tracy said.
CANADY WANTS TO make one thing clear: There’s more to the story than just a giant deposit.
“I feel like people thought I heard the number and just came to Texas Tech, which wasn’t the case at all,” she said she considered Tech’s offer for more than a month before she committed. “If I didn’t feel like Coach Glasco was an amazing coach and could lead this program to be where we thought it could be, I wouldn’t have come.”
Glasco, 66, is a wildly successful late bloomer in the softball world who won five conference titles with six trips to the NCAA regionals in six seasons at Louisiana. He wasn’t hired until Canady had already entered the portal, so he had to make up ground quickly, because he wasn’t exactly in the sweepstakes in Lafayette. But he had a secret weapon: Glasco was friends with Jim Huecker, a former travel ball coach and Canady’s longtime coach. And he knew what Huecker knew: Canady missed hitting as much as she loved pitching.
Canady grew up in Topeka, Kansas, as a multisport star, including playing basketball and tackle football against boys. On her girls’ basketball team in high school, Canady averaged 20.6 points and 12.3 rebounds during her junior year, leading Topeka High to the Kansas 6A state finals while also being the two-time Kansas Softball Gatorade Player of the Year and leading the team to its first two state titles. She dominated in the circle, obviously, but also hit .478 with 13 homers as a junior and .530 with 42 RBIs as a senior. After hitting just 35 times in two seasons at Stanford, Canady wanted to get back to being an all-around athlete.
And Glasco, who directed record-setting offenses as an assistant at Georgia and Texas A&M, surprised Canady by making hitting a centerpiece of his presentation, which comprised a stack of handwritten stat sheets and charts.
“That’s my lineup,” Glasco said, holding up the same poster he used to pitch Canady. “If you look, I’ve got ’em all and I’m promising her how many runs I’m going to score. The coaches wanted to put it in Excel, make it nice, but I said, ‘No, no, no. I want it because NiJa has to trust me. If it’s in my handwriting, this is better than on a computer because it has to be personal.’ I believe that was important.”
On most visits, Canady spent the bulk of her time with pitching coaches. But in Lubbock, Canady was so interested that she spent more time on her visit meeting with Glasco than she did with Tara Archibald, Glasco’s daughter who serves as associate head coach and pitching coach.
“I think I talked to Coach Tara maybe 20-30 minutes about pitching and then the rest of the time was just Coach Glasco talking about hitting,” Canady said. “Afterward, I had to go back and talk to Coach Tara a little more just because Coach Glasco and I spent so much time just talking about hitting, going through different swings, watching videos. And that was definitely different just because other schools were obviously more focused on my pitching.”
When Archibald left her head coaching job at Eastern Illinois, where she went 40-17 last season, to join her father’s staff July 3, she couldn’t have imagined landing Canady. But first, she had to wait on her dad, who can spin a few yarns.
Glasco coached his three daughters: Tara, Erin and the late Geri Ann, a former Gatorade National Player of the Year who died in a 2019 car accident when she was a volunteer coach for him at Louisiana.
“This is why I think I could identify with her,” Glasco said. “All three of my daughters pitched and played and hit. And when you’re an athlete, the one thing you don’t want to be is a pitcher only. In our sport, the pitcher is so important, so we limit them. And I think that’s what she felt like in her college career. … She wants the opportunity.”
Despite dealing with a soft-tissue injury in March and being limited, Canady has 81 at-bats this year, batting .309 with five doubles and eight homers. She leads the team with a .457 on-base percentage, thanks to her 13 walks and being hit by a pitch 10 times. Still, she takes violent cuts, looking to send the ball into orbit any chance she gets.
“I’m definitely trying to hit the ball out,” Canady said. “And that’s Coach Glasco’s motto, too. He loves the long ball.”
CANADY SAID THERE wasn’t much culture shock going from Palo Alto to Lubbock. She is from Topeka, after all.
“Lubbock reminds me more of home,” she said.
The major difference, she said, has been the atmosphere in Lubbock. Located five hours from Dallas and six from Austin, it’s its own outpost in West Texas. The Red Raiders are a devoted bunch.
“I think that was the biggest shock to me, just about how much sports matter here in Texas,” she said. “I remember my first football game here and just seeing how many people were here, that was definitely different.”
That legendary arm has proved useful at Tech football games, where she has admitted to sneaking in tortillas and winging them down toward the field, a tradition in Lubbock.
“There’s a whole science behind getting it far,” she said. “You have to put a hole in the center. There’s a certain way to throw it.”
And it didn’t hurt that another Red Raider with a legendary arm has become a big fan and made his own recruiting pitch. Canady, a huge Chiefs fan, was shocked when Mahomes interrupted his vacation in Italy to call her on her visit.
“I’m not going to say any names, but another program had a very important person call me and there was no caller ID, so I couldn’t call him back or anything,” Canady said. “But Patrick Mahomes, I have his number, I can reach out to him. So I think that’s cool. Last July, we were eating lunch and had a beautiful view of the whole football stadium. Someone told me, just send a picture to Patrick to see if he responds. He’s preparing for the season and then I think within 10 minutes he got back to me.”
Canady has that kind of star power, and she’ll undoubtedly draw more players who want to play alongside her next year, with more time for Glasco to work instead of the quick-assembly project he put together last season. Glasco thinks this year’s Red Raiders team can take anyone to the wire because of Canady, but is confident he can contend for a national championship next year, if not this year.
“I’ve never coached anybody close to her,” he said. “I’ve never coached this kind of pitcher in college. It has a huge effect. It makes up for a lot of bad coaching mistakes, I’ll tell you that.”
The partnership impacted all parties involved. She says it was hard to leave Stanford, her teammates and coaches behind, and yes, that Stanford degree. But Canady’s dream is to coach kids and open her own facility — or facilities — and her family feels the money will help her get there quickly.
“She wants to teach little girls to hit,” Glasco said. “She loves little kids. You can see it when she signs autographs.”
And it doesn’t hurt to have the Sellers in her corner.
“Why would you not want people you love to succeed? And so same with NiJa. I would go into business any day with her,” Tracy said. “She’s a celebrity in Lubbock, Texas. It’s not just about money. I really hope that story gets out about her.”
A running back with proven production is set to enter the college football transfer portal with just one year of NCAA eligibility remaining in his career.
James Madison running back Ayo Adeyi is preparing to enter the transfer portal in search of what will be a third school to play for in 2026, according to ESPN.
What he’s done on the field
Adeyi was limited to just 120 rushing yards on 24 carries for the Dukes as they made their first College Football Playoff appearance this past season, but the tailback has a history of solid output when he was initially at North Texas.
In total, Adeyi has 2,480 career rushing yards and 17 touchdowns while averaging 6.5 yards per carry over the last five collegiate seasons, mostly with the Mean Green.
He ran for 6 touchdowns on 496 yards in his initial season there before improving his per yard average to 7.2 yards the following season with 4 touchdowns and 807 total yards.
Adeyi had his best season to date in 2023, when he carried 143 times for 1,017 yards and scored 6 touchdowns while averaging 7.1 yards per attempt.
How the college football transfer portal works
College football’s transfer portal officially opens on Jan. 2, but that hasn’t stopped a flurry of players from entering their names for consideration at a new school right now.
The new 15-day transfer portal window from Jan. 2-16 and the elimination of the spring transfer period has condensed the timeline for players and programs to make their moves.
The NCAA Transfer Portal is a private database that includes the names of student-athletes in every sport at the Division I, II, and III levels. The full list of names is not available to the public.
A player can enter their name into the transfer portal through their school’s compliance office.
Once a player gives written notification of their intent to transfer, the office puts the player’s name into the database, and they officially become a transfer.
The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request and NCAA rules forbid anyone from refusing that request.
The database includes the player’s name, contact information, info on whether the player was on scholarship, and if he is a graduate student.
Once a player’s name appears in the transfer portal database, other schools are free to contact the player, who can change his mind at any point in the process and withdraw from the transfer portal.
Notably, once a player enters the portal, his school no longer has to honor the athletic scholarship it gave him.
And if that player decides to leave the portal and return to his original school, the school doesn’t have to give him another scholarship.
(ESPN)
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NFL betting usually rules the roost on the American sports wagering landscape.
But College Football Playoff quarterfinal odds are giving the mighty shield a run for its money at the moment — particularly in the Miami vs. Ohio State Cotton Bowl matchup, which kicks off the quarterfinals on Dec. 31, and the Alabama vs. Indiana Rose Bowl showdown on Jan. 1.
“These standalone College Football Playoff games really rival the NFL games,” Caesars Sports vice president of trading Craig Mucklow said.
Mucklow serves up his insights on College Football Playoff quarterfinal odds for all four matchups.
This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.
Bettors Backing Buckeyes
Ohio State is 12-1 straight up (SU), though that lone loss came in its last outing. The Buckeyes were 3.5-point favorites vs. Indiana in the Big Ten Championship Game and fell short 13-10.
Still, with a 10-2-1 mark against the spread (ATS), Ohio State has been one of the best bets all season in college football. Only Texas Tech (11-2 ATS) is better at covering the number.
So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the public betting masses are all over No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 10 Miami (11-2 SU/8-5 ATS) in the Cotton Bowl, for a 7:30 p.m. ET New Year’s Eve kickoff.
“Ohio State is a bigger loser for us on the spread than any of the NFL Week 17 games. And there’s still [five days] of betting to come,” Mucklow said.
After Miami’s 10-3 first-round win at No. 7 Texas A&M, Caesars Sports opened the Buckeyes as 7.5-point favorites. That number sprinted to Buckeyes -10, with early bettors eager to pile on Ohio State.
The Hurricanes actually saw sharp action at +10, so Caesars adjusted Monday to Ohio State -9.5.
Backing Off ‘Bama
No. 9 Alabama (11-3 SU/8-5-1 ATS) has the SEC pedigree, which is usually attractive to the betting masses. But No. 1 Indiana (13-0 SU/8-5 ATS) has been an offensive juggernaut much of the season, and bettors like to back a good offense.
And even though the Hoosiers didn’t put up points in their last outing, they did beat defending national champion Ohio State in the Big Ten title game. That carries some weight, as well, for a 4 p.m. ET Rose Bowl clash on New Year’s Day.
Indiana opened as a 6-point favorite and moved out to -7 in short order. Mucklow said sharp action on Alabama +7 led Caesars to lower Indiana to -6.5. But a continuing flood of Indiana action from the masses moved the Hoosiers up to -7 again.
“Bettors are all over Indiana big time. That’s bigger than our Ohio State decision,” Mucklow said. “I hate to say it, but we’re Alabama fans by a good distance.”
That said, Mucklow noted Caesars has one angle working in its favor.
“Indiana has not really been in this position before. Alabama has been there, done that,” he said.
Short Spread
Oddsmakers believe No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 4 Texas Tech is the most competitive matchup in CFP quarterfinal odds. The Ducks opened as 1.5-point favorites and are up to -2 vs. the Red Raiders, for a noon ET New Year’s Day start in the Orange Bowl.
Oregon (12-1 SU/9-4 ATS) already has a CFP game under its belt, coasting past No. 12 James Madison 51-34. But the Ducks fell short of covering as huge 20.5-point home favorites.
As noted above, Texas Tech (12-1 SU/11-2 ATS) is the best spread-covering team in the nation this season. The Red Raiders have been resting since a 34-7 rout of BYU as 12.5-point favorites in the Big 12 Championship Game on Dec. 6.
Bettors are leaning toward the Ducks, as of Friday afternoon.
“Oregon is a small loser for us, nothing drastic. There’s not much of a difference between these two teams,” Mucklow said. “I think this game will see two-way action. It’s only a 2-point spread.”
Sweet Rematch
One matchup in College Football Playoff quarterfinal odds is actually a rematch from the regular season. In Week 8, Ole Miss and Georgia played a thriller in Athens, Ga.
Ole Miss — then under Lane Kiffin, who has since left for LSU — led 35-26 late in the third quarter. But Georgia did the rest of the scoring in a 43-35 victory, barely covering as a 7-point home favorite.
Now, No. 3 Georgia (12-1 SU/6-7 ATS) and No. 6 Ole Miss (12-1 SU/8-5 ATS) meet on a neutral field at the Sugar Bowl. The spread is similar to the first meeting, with the Bulldogs opening -6 and now up to -6.5 for this 8 p.m. ET kickoff on New Year’s Day.
“All the money is for Georgia, which doesn’t surprise me,” Mucklow said. “You’ve given Kirby Smart three weeks to prepare for this game.”
Money Talks
Mucklow also ran through ranking the four CFP quarterfinals based on the amount of money each game is seeing so far.
“Alabama-Indiana is No. 1 by a distance. Then it’s Miami-Ohio State,” Mucklow said. “Then there’s a pretty significant gap to Ole Miss-Georgia, and another big gap to Oregon-Texas Tech. That’s the least popular of the four, by a distance.”
Patrick Everson is a sports betting analyst for FOX Sports and senior reporter for VegasInsider.com. He is a distinguished journalist in the national sports betting space. He’s based in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golfing in 110-degree heat. Follow him on X: @PatrickE_Vegas.
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Dec. 27, 2025, 3:06 p.m. CT
The College Football Playoff has reached the quarterfinal round, after a mixed bag of first round matchups have landed us with eight teams remaining that can still win the national title. With less than a week left in the non-CFP bowl season, and the playoff ramping up, it’s time to take a look at all four second round matchups.
New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day will be the showcase for each of the quarterfinal games, and four iconic bowl games will be in the spotlight, determining who makes it to the semifinal round the following week. While our primary focus will be on the roster churn for the Oklahoma Sooners in the transfer portal and the players heading off to the pros, there’s no denying that there should be some great football to watch as the calendar turns to 2026.
Here are previews for each CFP quarterfinal game, as we’ll know college football’s final four teams by the end of Thursday night.
Cotton Bowl: Miami vs. Ohio State, Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. CT
Miami and Ohio State will kick off the quarterfinals in the Cotton Bowl in Arlington, Texas on Wednesday night, with the winner heading to the Fiesta Bowl to take on the Ole Miss-Georgia winner. The Hurricanes went on the road in the first round and defeated Texas A&M, notching the program’s first-ever CFP win. Mario Cristobal campaigned hard for his team to make the playoff, and now they have a chance to pull off another upset in the second round.
Ryan Day and the Buckeyes last played in a loss to Indiana in the Big Ten title game, but they’re as dangerous as anyone in the field, and are one of the favorites to win it all again. With just one loss all season, they’re a talented and deep team that knows better than anyone how to navigate the 12-team CFP. Two high-powered offenses, led by productive quarterbacks in Carson Beck and Julian Sayin, should make this one a high-scoring affair.
Orange Bowl: Oregon vs. Texas Tech, Thursday at 11:00 a.m. CT
The Ducks and the Red Raiders will face off in the Orange Bowl in Miami Gardens, Florida on Thursday. The winner between two programs that have become a force in the NIL era of college football will face the Alabama-Indiana winner in the Peach Bowl. Oregon handled James Madison in the first round at home, but they weren’t satisfied with just getting that one win. Dan Lanning, quarterback Dante Moore, and the Ducks have as much firepower as any team in the country, and their talent may very well carry them far in this field.
Texas Tech is a program that suddenly has the talent to compete with the big boys in college football, and they were clearly the Big 12’s best team in 2025. Joey McGuire’s team earned a bye in their first-ever CFP appearance, and it could be how quarterback Behren Morton and the Tech offense handle one of the best defenses in the country on the other side. The start of a triple-header of CFP quarterfinals on Thursday has plenty of intrigue baked into it.
Rose Bowl: Alabama vs. Indiana, Thursday at 3:00 p.m. CT
The Rose Bowl features a great matchup between Alabama and Indiana on Thursday in Pasadena, California. Whoever can find a way to win this game will head to the Peach Bowl, and will play the Oregon-Texas Tech winner. The Crimson Tide won on the road in the first round, defeating Oklahoma. Kalen DeBoer’s squad looked like the ‘Bama team from earlier this season for the final 2 and 1/2 quarters in that game, and quarterback Ty Simpson and the Tide offense played excellent football after falling behind.
On the other side, Curt Cignetti’s Hoosiers are the No. 1 team in the country, the only unbeaten FBS team to this point in 2025, and they boast the Heisman Trophy winner in quarterback Fernando Mendoza. Despite all of that, it’s Alabama that boasts more overall team talent, and their stingy defense should be a great matchup against an explosive and dynamic offense from Indiana. One of the great settings in all of college football gets a doozy again in 2025.
Sugar Bowl: Ole Miss vs. Georgia, Thursday at 7:00 p.m. CT
The Sugar Bowl gives us a rematch from one of the best games of the regular season between Ole Miss and Georgia. Whoever wins this clash in New Orleans, Louisiana on Thursday night will play the Miami-Ohio State winner in the Fiesta Bowl. The Rebels are still in the aftermath of the Lane Kiffin departure, but Pete Golding’s team dominated Tulane in the first round at home. Led by quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and a wide-open offense, the Rebs are playing with a lot of confidence right now.
Their only loss all season came that the hands of Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs. That game was an instant classic in Athens, with the ‘Dawgs coming back to win, despite trailing in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Gunner Stockton and the offense have gotten better and better as the season has gone on, and this team appears to be in a better position than they were in 2024. Can Ole Miss’ high-octane offense avenge the October loss, or will Georgia’s stifling defense stand tall and advance to the semifinals?
Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Aaron on X@Aaron_Gelvin.
The new changes to the transfer portal window were put in place with the intention of making things easier for both coaches and athletes, but some haven’t viewed the changes as a positive.
Per The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel, one agent said, “nothing has changed, except kids aren’t able to take visits.” The agent added that “it’s the dumbest thing in the world.”
Previously, there were two transfer portal windows: one being a 20-day window in December and the other being a 10-day window in April. As of October, there is now just one transfer portal window, which is Jan. 2-16 this year.
Athletes playing on a team that undergoes a coaching change are given a 15-day transfer portal window that begins five days after a new coach is hired. Players who are participating in the College Football Playoff but choose to transfer during the January window are allowed to stay with their teams through the end of the season.
On the surface, the change would seemingly be a net positive for all parties, but apparently it still needs some tweaking.
A shuffling of quarterbacks is coming to college football in 2026.
In the Power Four ranks, quarterbacks such as Rocco Becht, Josh Hoover, Dylan Raiola and Brendan Sorsby are looking for new schools to play for next season.
While the Power Four quarterbacks are dominating the spotlight, there are a number of Group of Five starters looking to increase their exposure at Power Four programs in 2026.
One quarterback who will depart from a Group of Five school when the transfer portal opens is UNLV starter Anthony Colandrea. He will have one season of eligibility remaining at his third school.
One school of interest that has emerged for Colandrea since he decided to leave UNLV is Florida State.
Pete Nakos of On3 reported that Florida State is interested in Colandrea as its starter in 2026.
Should Colandrea transfer to Florida State for the 2026 football season, he would join a growing number of quarterbacks who have transferred to the Seminoles in the last five seasons.
James Blackman was the last quarterback recruited out of high school to start at the beginning of a season for Florida State all the way back in 2020. Since Blackman, Mike Norvell has added Jordan Travis (Louisville), DJ Uiagelelei (Clemson and Oregon State), and Tommy Castellanos (Boston College) from the transfer portal to the Seminoles.
The 6-foot, 205-pounder began his college football journey with Tony Elliott at Virginia in 2023. Tony Muskett started that season at quarterback, but a combination of injuries and inconsistency gave Colandrea the opportunity to play in seven games. He threw for 1,958 yards, 13 touchdowns and nine interceptions while rushing for 225 yards.
Colandrea played in 11 of the Cavaliers’ 12 games in the 2024 season. He passed for 2,125 yards, 13 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while rushing for 277 yards and two touchdowns. He transferred to UNLV the following offseason.
The Rebels gave Colandrea the starting role over Michigan transfer Alex Orji after the first game. Colandrea passed for 3,459 yards, 23 touchdowns and nine interceptions while accumulating 649 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground. He guided UNLV to a 10-win season, a Mountain West Championship appearance and an appearance in the Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl.
Colandrea received Mountain West Player of the Year and All-Mountain West First Team distinction for his heroics in 2025.
Fox Sports college football analyst RJ Young delivered a harsh assessment of a high-profile quarterback who holds a $2.5 million NIL valuation from On3. This signal-caller recently decided to enter the transfer portal, a move that sparked significant conversation regarding loyalty and team building in the modern era. Young suggests the decision transforms the player from a program cornerstone into a temporary asset.
The analyst noted that the athlete’s next destination will likely view him as a transient piece rather than a long-term solution. This contrasts sharply with the fanbase he is leaving behind because they believed he would play a central role in restoring their program to national title contention.
The quarterback had originally arrived with immense expectations and family ties that carried unique prestige at his former school.
Young argued that the player had everything he requested at his previous stop, including a relative on the coaching staff. By exiting the program now, the standout leaves behind an unfinished job regarding a College Football Playoff invitation despite helping the team reach its first bowl game in eight years.
Analyst details financial, competitive implications of transfer decision
The subject of this scrutiny is Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback Dylan Raiola. He famously flipped his commitment from the Georgia Bulldogs and the Ohio State Buckeyes before landing in Lincoln. Young’s critique centered on the shift in how Raiola will be perceived moving forward.
“Wherever he lands next will greet him as a rental, unlike Huskers fans who believed he would play a large role in their return to national title contention,” Young said.
The analyst emphasized the unique situation Raiola abandoned.
“Raiola had everything he asked for at Nebraska,” Young said. “As a legacy with an uncle coaching the offensive line, his name carries a prestige in Lincoln that it does not anywhere else in the country.”
Fox Sports college football analyst Laken Litman also weighed in on the situation. She noted the massive expectations placed on the young passer when he arrived on campus.
“The 6-foot-3, 230-pound quarterback was supposed to be the star that would lead Nebraska’s resurgence alongside head coach Matt Rhule,” Litman said.
Raiola started as a freshman and threw for 2,819 yards in 2024. However, his second season did not go exactly as planned after he broke his leg against the USC Trojans. Litman pointed out that external factors likely influenced the departure.
“However, this year didn’t go as planned,” Litman said. “He broke his leg in a loss to USC that sidelined him for the rest of the season, and then couple that with Nebraska firing its offensive line coach, who is his uncle, and his brother de-committing from the 2026 recruiting class, and the decision starts making sense.”
Young added that the initial excitement blinded many to the quarterback’s history of movement.
“The admiration Cornhuskers fans laid on Raiola allowed many Nebraska fans to forget he transferred programs twice in high school and flipped his commitment three times as a prep player,” Young said. “Because his decision to play for the Huskers felt like the one that would stick.”
The Cornhuskers will face the Utah Utes in the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 31 at 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
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