Dylan Raiola didn’t arrive at Ohio State Tuesday as a recruit to be courted. The 2024 five-star quarterback was already hooked, committing and joining the Buckeyes’ recruiting class in May.
He instead arrived as a sponge.
“I want to learn as much as I can before I get here,” Raiola said.
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day obliged, standing behind the incoming junior quarterback on the indoor practice field at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center not looking to be impressed, but to critique, to mold Raiola into the quarterback he wants when he eventually arrives.
The 2024 five-star quarterback and his future head coach worked on ball placement, tweaking things a bit, trying to get the football one inch above a target set 15 yards away. It was the little things, the perfection that Raiola strives for even heading into his third season at Chandler High School in Arizona where he has exceedingly high expectations.
“Two state championships, for sure. That’s my goal at Chandler High School,” Raiola said. “This year, I want to throw 40 touchdowns minimum, 4,000 pass yards. Just set the bar high. Anything less than that will not be accepted. Setting the bar high, pushing myself to it and not settling.”
Even though Raiola currently stands as the No. 1 quarterback and the No. 3 player in the 2024 class, he knows he’s still learning how to play the game. And that was his focus with Day, “the best one to do it,” trusting him in his development ahead of the 2022 high school season.
“That’s something he said, ‘Work on it now, and just go play ball,’” Raiola said.
It’s a situation Raiola’s been working for since he was little: learning the quarterback position with a coach like Day behind him, telling him how to be better. And it’s a path the five-star quarterback takes great pride in, saying he’s humbled knowing that his future is as the starting quarterback at Ohio State.
But he knows it’s something that he’s been working for too. He knows it's his job to make those throws with Day watching and translate them to his high school field in Chandler, Ariz.
It’s more than just preparing for 2022 or 2023 high school seasons for Raiola. It’s continuing the training that brought him into a position to be Ohio State’s future starting quarterback in the first place. It’s developing continued confidence so that when he takes the field for the field at Ohio Stadium for the first time, he can act like he’s been there before.
“My training takes care of all that, so when I get to places like this, people watching or whatever it is, I fall back to my level of training,” Raiola said. “My training is very high level, so there’s really no drop off.
“Just trying to be my own person, really, is what it is, not be C.J. (Stroud) or anyone I’m not. Just try to be me and make the throws that I make and move on.”
Raiola left his throwing session with Day, 2025 quarterback Colin Hurley and others speechless. He learned so much, the five-star quarterback said, already anxious to come back and work with Day more.
Raiola continues to want to be a better quarterback. He’s not satisfied, something that Day, who the five-star considers to be the best in the world, will not let him be.
It’s what Raiola’s looking for.
“He just kept proving his point why I came here and why I did this so early,” Raiola said.
