When you consider Nebraska's all-time toughest offensive linemen, Dominic Raiola quickly springs to mind.
I hadn't heard from Raiola in years. But Sunday, he sent me an email expressing concern about the state of the Husker football program. "Hope change is on the way," he wrote.
We caught up via phone Monday. Retired from a 14-year NFL playing career with the Detroit Lions and living in suburban Detroit, Raiola supports Scott Frost as Mike Riley's successor as Nebraska head coach. Seems all signs point to the scenario becoming reality. And if it does, let's hope the Huskers somehow regain the hard-edged competitiveness with which young men like Raiola played the game as an All-American at NU in 2000 and later in the NFL, where he started for 13 seasons.