Jackson Cantwell’s head coach John Perry raves about 5-star OL’s football skills: “He wants to complete the job”

Jackson Cantwell is one of the best overall prospects from the class of 2026. The five-star recruit is being pursued by some of the best programs in the country.

Cantwell is the son of former Olympians, Christian Cantwell and Teri Cantwell. His father is a silver medallist from the 2008 Olympic games, whereas his mother was a two-time NCAA shot put champion at SMU. The 6-foot-7.5 offensive lineman plays for Nixa High School in Nixa, Missouri.

Cantwell's head coach at Nixa, John Perry, talked about his star lineman during an interview on the Respect My Decision podcast.

"He’s a nice kid," Perry told the podcast's host, Adam Gorney. "But when he’s out there on the field, he wants to complete the job, and that means when the ball is snapped until the end of the whistle blows, not the beginning of the whistle, the end of the whistle."

Jackson Cantwell is ranked no.4 nationally and is the second-best offensive tackle in the country, as per On3 Industry Rankings. He is also the best overall prospect from the state of Missouri.

Jackson Cantwell is a key target for Kirby Smart's Georgia

Jackson Cantwell, one of the best high school athletes in the country, is a major target for the Georgia Bulldogs. The five-star recruit was in Athens for Georgia’s end-of-the-summer cookout event.

Kirby Smart and company invited the commits from the class of 2025 and some of their key targets from the 2026 class. Cantwell was one of them and he got to interact with the Bulldogs' current players and the commits from the class of 2025.

"Getting to talk to more players and commits and keep learning more about the program in that regard," Cantwell said about the event, as per On3. "They (the coaching staff) also treated us well and made me feel like I was a top priority."

The offensive lineman also got a chance to get a closer look at Georgia's meetings and pre-season workouts ahead of their 2024 campaign. He also got to interact with the team's OL coach, Stacy Searels.

"I got to have a closer look at off-season workouts, and meetings and I got to experience a true recruiting-based event at Georgia," Jackson Cantwell said. "Getting to keep building relationships and learning from Coach Searels and the rest of the offensive line staff made it special."

Georgia has already extended an offer to the lineman and will hope to sign him in the future. However, they will face stiff competition from the likes of Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas among others.