Nebraska Football 2024: The MVPs, Best Wins, and What Could Have Been

 

Offering superlatives and plaudits for the Huskers’ 2024 season.

Chris Fort | December 29, 2024

Nebraska offensive line coach Donovan Raiola / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Best Coaching Job: Donovan Raiola

The offensive line didn’t get enough praise this year. Their running yards and sacks allowed don’t necessarily show it, but the O-Line played better than they have in a long while, putting it all together against a good Wisconsin defense on Senior Day. Just two years after fielding arguably the worst O-Line in modern Husker history, Raiola put together a dependable unit despite being without both top left tackles and often without their best offensive guard in Micah Mazzccua.

Runner-Up: Terrance Knighton

 

Donovan Raiola | Nebraska Football O-Line Coach

 

Apr 25, 2023

 

“From the family perspective, The Pipeline, the tradition… he gets it.”

 

Coach Raiola x #GBR

Rave Raiola reviews were 'huge' for transfer OL Hunter Anthony

 

By Parker Gabriel

Lincoln Journal Star

January 2, 2022

Nebraska landed a commitment from Oklahoma State transfer offensive lineman Hunter Anthony on Sunday morning. Here are three observations on the addition.

1. Anthony visited campus on Nebraska offensive line coach Donovan Raiola’s first day in town, but the offensive line coach made an impression anyway.

In fact, before the two actually met, Anthony already had received favorable reviews from several others, including former Oklahoma State All-American and current Chicago Bears rookie tackle Teven Jenkins.

Raiola, of course, was Jenkins’ assistant offensive line coach in Chicago until he left last month to take the Husker job.

“We also have a strength coach, Anthony Hibbert, he’s up there, and then another o-lineman, Arlington Hambright,” Anthony told the Journal Star on Sunday. “(Hambright) was here my freshman year and he was a big influence for me, then he went to Colorado for his fifth year. He’s up there, too, and all of them had nothing but good things to say.”

“I respect Teven so much. I played with him for almost three years and he’s awesome. He told me, ‘Man, I would have loved to have played for (Raiola) in college.’ Hearing that and hearing Coach Hilbert say he’s going to shoot you straight. You’re going to work your butt off, but he’s going to be honest and he’s a good guy. From people I really respect, that really meant so much to me.”

Then Anthony and Raiola actually met on the weekend of Dec. 10.

“He’s down to earth and his background of where he coached, plus his brother (former Husker great Dominic Raiola), that’s unbeatable,” Anthony said. “Just having that plus the people I talked to, it was huge.”

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