Kirk Herbstreit said Thursday he isn’t in the recruiting business and was adamant he “wasn’t trying to sell Nebraska to anybody.”

The ESPN college football analyst joined “The Paul Finebaum Show” on Thursday to react to the controversy he somehow convinced Dylan Raiola to flip from Georgia to Nebraska.

“Why would I tell anyone to leave Georgia?” he asked Finebaum. “Like Georgia is now – as we have talked about for the last couple of years – have become the bar in the sport. I love (Georgia coach) Kirby (Smart), and Kirby and I have a great relationship, so that’s kind of silly that I would do that.”

On Wednesday – National Signing Day – Dylan Raiola’s father said in an interview his son flipped at the encouragement of Kirk Herbstreit.

Dominic Raiola, a former All-American at Nebraska, said the “College GameDay” analyst” called him about the idea.

“When he saw the smoke about Dylan entertaining Nebraska, he was like, ‘Call me,’” Dominic Raiola said of Herbstreit. “’Dude, Is this true? He got to do it. He got to do it.’ (Herbstreit’s) affinity for Nebraska, for a guy like that to tell me and get behind me. Look, I knew he needed to do it. But I wasn’t going to sit here and say, ‘You need to go change that place or be a part of the change of that place.’

“So when Kirk told me that … I had other coaches reach out to me and say the place is special. Coach (Matt) Rhule is a special leader.”

Herbstreit presented his truth from his perspective.

“I know who Dylan Raiola is for obvious reasons,” Herbstreit said. “I saw him at the Georgia-Ole Miss game that I called. Saw him on the sideline a month earlier.

“So when his dad called me to kind of talk to me about what Dylan was going through, I just assumed – they moved down there for his senior year to play at one of the high schools in that area – he was throwing for six touchdowns a night every Friday and business was going good for him and he was going to Georgia and the rest was history.

“I didn’t know much of what was going on. He told me that they were having some other thoughts. He was basically calling to get my opinion on who Matt Rhule was and what I thought of him as a coach. By the way, I get calls like that from people all the time.

So, Herbstreit said, he gave him his opinion.

“My take on it is he’s a good coach,” Herbstreit said. “The other part of it that he said was the family legacy. He mentioned he has a brother that is an assistant coach at Nebraska. Of course, Dom was a great player there himself, an All-American.

“It sounded like the family, out of respect for their love for Nebraska, was really torn. That’s what he sounded like.”

Herbstreit said he understood the family connection to the school, perhaps, weighed on Dylan Raiola.

“Because of the respect he has for his own dad, he’s thinking about going to Nebraska?” Herbstreit asked. “A place that hasn’t competed for national titles in over 20 years? That says a lot about the kid and what he wants to do. … He’s thinking a little bit more about it because maybe how he grew up in that house, and the way they love Nebraska.

“I just said, ‘Wow. That’s a powerful thing, if he ended up doing that.’ Of course, I didn’t sell Nebraska and try to tell anybody not to go to Georgia. That’s the most ridiculous thing anybody would do who isn’t familiar with anybody’s recruiting.

“But I did compliment Matt Rhule. If I am guilty of anything, I said Matt Rhule is a good coach and a good man.”

He said if it is wrong to compliment someone than he apologizes.

“But I wasn’t trying to sell Nebraska to anybody,” he said. “And I wasn’t trying to tell anyone to leave Georgia.”

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.