Former Bengals QB Kitna raves about Ohio State QB commit

Jon Kitna can remember when Dylan Raiola was in diapers. Or out of them.

“We’ve got memories of him stripping his diaper off and jumping in a pool butt-naked at our house,” Kitna said with a laugh.

Raiola, a five-star quarterback who committed Monday night to join Ohio State’s 2024 recruiting class, is the son of Dominic Raiola, a longtime NFL star center with the Detroit Lions. Kitna was the Lions’ quarterback from 2006-08 after leaving the Cincinnati Bengals.

Kitna reconnected with the Raiolas a couple of years ago when they were looking to move from Arizona to Texas to be closer to Dylan’s sister, who attends TCU. Kitna became a coach after his playing career ended and is the head coach at Burleson High School. Dominic told Kitna that he wanted him to coach Dylan.

Funny thing is, Dylan had little experience at quarterback.

“Most coaches weren’t giving him the chance to play quarterback,” Kitna said. “He’s bigger than everybody so they just put him on the line. He played defense and he would run people over and smash people. He said, ‘Uncle Jon, I want to try to play quarterback.’ “

Kitna took Dylan, who’s now

FILE Former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Jon Kitna played with Dominic Raiola, the father of Dylan Raiola, a five-star quarterback prospect who committed Monday to Ohio State’s 2024 class.