Top Ranked 5-Star OT Jackson Cantwell Limits Future to 2 College Football Teams Because of Bloodline

Jackson Cantwell. Remember this name. It may not be very popular now but this top-ranked offensive tackle in the class of 2026 is going to make waves in the upcoming months. The 6’8″, 300-pounder is a highly sought recruit who also won a national title in the shot put at June’s Nike Outdoor Nationals earlier this year. 

The Nixa football star junior is the second-ever prospect from southwest Missouri to be named the No. 1 overall prospect. He joins former Hillcrest standout wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham. According to reports, he has scholarship offers from over two dozen schools, But as per On3, in July he had narrowed down his list to 14 colleges that included:

• LSU
• Michigan
• Ohio State
• Florida
• Nebraska
• Mizzou
• Miami (Florida)
• Alabama
• Texas A&M
• USC
• Georgia
• Oregon
• Arkansas
• Ole Miss

But now it seems that he has narrowed his list down further to two programs. As Cantwell revealed in a new YouTube episode on On3 Recruits on October 23, family ties are taking a major chunk of consideration in that.

In the episode, Phillip Dukes got in touch with Jackson Cantwell. When asked about his thoughts on which schools he has an interest in, Cantwell admitted he’s been talking to several schools, and also visited some. Since January, he has been to Georgia, Nebraska, Missouri, USC, and Oregon campuses. While academic and athletic fit are important factors, when prompted to talk about Nebraska, the Nixa High School OT said, “Nebraska is a pretty cool place in that not only is it a regional college but we also have kind of ties in that area.”

The ties he referred to were that his mother, Teri (Steer), was born in Crete before going to SMU, and grew up 45 minutes from Lincoln. They have some distant family members and they’re familiar faces in Nebraska. The five-star lineman has visited Nebraska multiple times and has been building a relationship with Huskers’ offensive line coach Donovan Raiola for several seasons now. 

“I’ve taken three trips there so far. I’ve seen gamedays, I’ve seen spring games, recruiting junior day stuff … I’d say Coach (Donovan) Raiola’s coaching would be one thing I’ve gotten to learn about that I think is interesting but also a positive. I think Coach Raiola is a good dude to learn from. He teaches unique stuff on the offensive line. I can see that room starting to gradually get better and I think those guys like to learn under him,” Cantwell said of Nebraska in July. One more trip to Nebraska came last month during Nebraska’s game against Colorado.

“The visit was great. I enjoyed it. It was a fun time for sure. It met my expectations. It was a very fun game in a very fun environment. They played quite well too,” Cantwell had said, summing up his visit. Cantwell, during his visit, talked to Dayton Raiola, the 2026 QB prospect from Buford, Georgia, and the brother of Dylan Raiola, the five-star signee from the Class of 2024 who passed for 423 yards in his first two starts. Cantwell said he and the younger Raiola hit it off well. Donovan is the uncle of the two. If you are thinking that Cantwell is almost set for Nebraska, there’s another one more school he is looking at.

As far as ties are concerned, Cantwell said, “There’s only really two schools I have a lot of ties to and my dad went to Missouri so that’d be the other one.” Between his schools of interest, Missouri currently takes the upper edge with just one loss in seven games played while Nebraska has also improved from last year’s 5-7 to this year’s 5-2 so far. There are more reasons for his interest in Missouri.

Nixa is around two hours and 40 minutes away from Columbia, but it is one of the closest schools to Cantwell. Staying home and playing for his hometown school would indeed mean a lot to anyone. Other top in-state prospects flocking in Columbia probably also have something to do with that.

“You’ve seen what its like with other priority guys from other classes. You’ve seen Luther Burden, you’ve seen Cayden [Green] and Williams [Nwaneri] and how well respected they are. You see that and i feel like it means something more to stay in-state,” Cantwell had said. Despite considering these two schools heavily, Cantwell still has an interest in some other schools as well. 

Jackson Cantwell is going to be a force in college football

• Cantwell has an interest in Kirby Smart and Georgia.
• As he had expressed earlier, he has high regard for the Buckeyes as well. “OSU has a historically great program with a lot of great linemen and coaches within it in the modern day. Coach [Justin] Frye is good at what he does and they churn out offensive line talent,” Cantwell had said about Ohio State, speaking to On3’s Chad Simmons.
• Cantwell has also admired Miami, highlighting its strong coaching staff for the offensive line under coach Cristobal and Mirabal. “Miami has a very good coaching staff for the OL (Coach Cristobal and Mirabal) and has a lot of great history. It’s also a great place to live,” he had said.
• On the other had, Michigan has captured Cantwell’s attention because of its offensive line program and OL-based schemes. “Michigan is an incredible offensive line school with an OL-based scheme that runs everything well. Coach Moore and Coach Newsome can develop with the best of them,” he had said about Michigan.

Looking at all these, it is evident that options are wide open for Cantwell. As a powerhouse of athletic abilities, he seems to have inherited the talent from his parents Christian and Teri Cantwell.

Cantwell’s father was a former Mizzou player and a 5x world champion. He is also the 2008 Olympis silver medalist. His mom, Teri, is an SMU Hall of Famer and a 2x NCAA shot put champion. She also previously served as a former Mizzou assistant track and field coach. Jackson’s HC John Perry roghtly said of Cantwell, “It’s pretty amazing. He has not only been blessed genetically from his height. But he’s also been blessed with parents who have put a work ethic in him to where he likes to work out and get stronger.”

There’s still ample time for the 5-star player to decide and the upcoming weeks are going to be a huge deciding factor in his decision. Cantwell also stated that he’ll be visiting Alabama vs. Missouri this weekend and LSU vs. Alabama next week. We’ll see what unfolds in the coming weeks.