Cantwell’s path towards playing football, and eventually coming to CAL, happened in somewhat of a roundabout way. In fact, if it hadn’t been for his mother, he most likely wouldn’t have played football at all. “My mom’s side of the family is heavily into football,” Cantwell says. “My grandfather played in college and my mom’s brothers, my uncles, played in college too. My dad has never played football. He was a big baseball guy, so I played T-ball from an early age. That was our thing - baseball.” Cantwell’s father went out of town one week on a business trip, so his mom decided to intervene. “I had been begging my parents to let me play football,” he says. “My mom signed me up while he was gone. When he returned home, she said, ‘Your son is going to play football.’ I think he was kind of opposed to it initially, but he’s come around since. He’s a huge football fan now, and I think he has really enjoyed following his son through high school, college, and a professional career.” Cantwell says he actually continued playing various sports, playing football in the fall, basketball in the winter and baseball in the spring.
GAME TIME COACH HUNTER CANTWELL IS FINDING HIS STRIDE AT CHRISTIAN ACADEMY OF LOUISVILLE Writer / Julie Engelhardt Photography Provided
Christian Academy of Louisville (CAL) has a long-standing reputation for being one of the finest learning institutions in the state of Kentucky. They have attained that status by attracting outstanding administrators, instructors and athletic staff.
“I had a lot of friends who played football,” he says. “Growing up in Georgia, it’s a big football state. Much like there’s a strong basketball culture in Kentucky, we all grew up following Georgia and Georgia Tech, and the Atlanta Falcons. I think just being in the culture really piqued my interest and I wanted to try it out.”
Cantwell is originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee. He and his family moved to an area just north of Atlanta when he was Three years ago, their athletic department younger, where they lived until the summer scored a touchdown when they brought before his sophomore year of high school. in a new head football coach, Hunter They relocated to Paducah to be closer to Cantwell, to their English Station campus. extended family members, and Cantwell Cantwell knows the game inside and out, attended Paducah Tilghman High School, not just from a coaching perspective, but playing football under Coach Perry Thomas. also as a former player. He played football in He became the school’s all-time passing elementary, middle and high school, college, leader, completing 458 of 756 passes for and with the National Football League. 7,272 yards and 70 touchdowns. He set the Kentucky Class 3A playoff record for passing 10 / AUGUST 2021
