Jackson Cantwell stunned the recruiting world on Tuesday afternoon when he selected Miami over a final group that included Georgia, Oregon and Ohio State. The five-star and No. 1 prospect in the Rivals250 sat down with Rivals national recruiting analyst Greg Smith to detail the five pivotal moments in his recruitment that led to his Miami pledge.
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1. THE OFFER
This is where things have to start. It has felt to many that Miami came out of nowhere in this recruitment. But as Cantwell describes, the Hurricanes have been in this for a long time.
“Obviously you have to start with the offer, right?,” Cantwell said. “That was the biggest thing back in February of 2023. If you look back, that offer was the earliest out of my four finalists. They came in pretty early; I guess I wasn't getting recruited as hard by them at that point.
“It kind of turned up more after June 15, but that was important when they got their foot in the door. That was a pretty big offer to get from the beginning because the majority of it at first was kind of regional interest. Miami was one of my first national offers, so that was a pretty big one to show that I belonged at that stage and the programs like that should recruit me.”
2. JUNE 15, 2024: MARIO CRISTOBAL ENTERS THE RECRUITMENT
The second pivotal moment in Cantwell’s journey to picking Miami was June 15, 2024. This is where Miami really turned up the heat to show that the Missouri native was a real priority for the Hurricanes.
“There were some programs that kind of came out of the woodwork and some that kind of just seemed like they didn't want to recruit me at that point as much because they kind of felt like they were in or out of it for whatever reason,” Cantwell said. “Miami is one of those programs that really just jumped in and just started building a relationship right away. Or at least trying to build one that was even better.
“I'd heard from coach (Alex) Mirabal sparingly before, when I was an unofficial recruit and he would come by the school. I hadn't talked to coach (Mario) Cristobal at that point. That was when I started building a relationship with coach Cristobal. I think that helped a lot because we heard from them a lot and they put a lot of effort into us.”
3. NOVEMBER 2, 2024: THE GAMEDAY VISIT
You never know what can happen on a visit. Cantwell's visit to Miami on Nov. 2 for the Duke game last fall almost didn’t happen. But since it did, it laid the foundation for the rest of the recruitment and really made Miami a true contender. Only Jackson’s mom went with him on this visit and after it she told his dad, ‘Man, I think you're going to need to see Miami. It's special.’
“I think the game day visit was another really important one,” Jackson said. “The game definitely helped me because I got to see it all for the first time. It was kind of a coincidence to really get down there. I'm so glad I took the visit because I had a weekend open and I had a list of schools that I wanted to go see for the first time.
"Miami was on the list. Texas A&M was on the list there. Ole Miss was on the list. I ended up choosing Miami for that weekend, and I'm very glad I did because I liked everything I saw. They showed me everything down there and they laid out a good plan for me. It seemed like they really poured a lot into it and they had a lot of interest, and that was something that really stuck with me going into that winter cycle.
“They just expressed that I was a priority for them. They just said, ‘You're a guy that can completely change our momentum in 2026, a guy that could absolutely play for us and be good for us.’ They thought a guy of my caliber could develop really well there and that was something that stuck with me a lot.”
One of the things the family liked about seeing Miami’s campus was how small the average class size was. Miami’s student body is smaller than you’d expect so it feels like a more intimate setting for classes. The campus also feels like it’s own little world within the major city of Miami.
4. THE MULTI-DAY SPRING VISIT
Cantwell took spring break visits to Miami, Michigan and Ohio State. The Hurricanes knocked their visit out of the park and the vision really came together that he could see himself at Miami.
“I think what brought it home was that spring practice,” Cantwell said. “That was where I realized this isn’t just a cool place but this is a place that I can really play football at and be successful because I was down there for three days. I watched a spring practice and two walkthroughs. I spent a lot of time on campus, and it felt like an (official visit) because it had like that amount of effort poured into it like an OV and it was really an incredible visit.
“It was one of if not the best visit I've been on.
“It was hard to replace that genuine connection I felt on that visit. I just thought these guys have shown such effort in having a plan for me. What we could do from start to finish there. We talked ball, we talked about the life stuff that Miami offers. It just seemed like a good situation just from start to finish.”
One thing that also became clear on this visit was offensive line coach Alex Mirabal’s teaching style and how it meshed with Jackson. The way that he runs his room really stood out to the five-star and his mom on that visit.
5. THE DECISION IS MADE
So when did the decision get made and how difficult was it to make? The final call was made less than 48 hours before his announcement ceremony.
“So after the unofficial visit to Georgia I took last week I was on the plane ride home in an uncomfortable seat,” Cantwell said. “There was no room at all and I had no Wi-Fi on the plane, and my thinking was, 'All right, I'm going to sit here. I'm going to think for an hour and a half and I'm going to figure out where I'm going to go. It’s either Georgia or Miami. By the end of this (flight) I'm going to know.'
“At the end of the flight I knew I was going to Miami. I told my parents in the car ride on the way home, and they seemed to agree with me. I'm glad they're on board with it because I thought through the decision a lot and I think that was what was best for me.”
In the end, Miami “just kept doing everything right” according to the Cantwells. The elephant in the room is the discussion around NIL and the role it played in this decision. The No. 1 player in the country wasn’t going anywhere on a discount. Every program in the final group put together competitive offers.
But Miami didn’t just have NIL going for it. The combination of the coaching staff, campus and development plan also played key roles in why Cantwell is now all about The U.
