Miami freshman OT Jackson Cantwell embraces being thrown into the fire

Jackson Cantwell arrived at Miami with as much hype as any offensive lineman in the country. Now the freshman is finding out exactly what that means in Mario Cristobal's program.

The 6-foot-8, 330-pound lineman said this week that Miami has not tried to ease him into spring football, and his response made it pretty clear how he views the challenge.

"You're either going to sink or swim. You've got to step up or fall back. I've taken a lot of lumps but I feel like I'm giving them back every single time I take one."

Jackson Cantwell

Jackson Cantwell is not backing down from the challenge

Cantwell told reporters that the biggest adjustment has been matching the physicality every day while also handling protections, communication and the speed of the college game. He added that he has "taken some lumps," but feels like he is starting to answer back as well. "I'm trying to keep applying pressure," Cantwell said, "and just be a functional part of the offense. Don't slow anything down."

In the same media session, he said there were "no false promises" from Cristobal and offensive line coach Alex Mirabal, calling their coaching style hard but intentional.

Cantwell was with the team during Miami's College Football Playoff run and worked on the scout team, including reps at defensive end, which helped him learn the offense before spring meetings started.

Cantwell was considered the No. 1 tackle in the 2026 class. Cantwell became the first offensive lineman to win Gatorade National Football Player of the Year honors after a dominant senior season at Nixa High School. He helped lead Nixa to a 13-0 record and a berth in the Missouri Class 6 state title game while piling up 153 pancake blocks for an offense that averaged 44.8 points and 9.3 yards per play through 13 games.

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