Hunter Cantwell (born December 30, 1985) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

. After playing

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

Louisville Cardinals The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. The Cardinals teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East Co ...

, he was signed by the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2009. He spent most of the 2009 season on the team's

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

, and was promoted to the active roster late in the season. Cantwell was signed to the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

' practice squad in 2010 and 2011 before becoming the

quarterbacks coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the offensive and defensive coordinators. Common ...

for

Campbellsville University Campbellsville University (CU) is a private Christian university in Campbellsville, Kentucky. It was founded as Russell Creek Academy and enrolls more than 12,000 students. The university offers associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees. In 2 ...

. Later on, Cantwell served as head coach at Carroll County High in Kentucky in 2017 and 2018, and is currently the head coach at

Christian Academy of Louisville Christian Academy of Louisville (a.k.a. "CAL") is a private Christian school system in Louisville, Kentucky. It is composed of several schools in the Louisville metropolitan area, the largest of which is CAL-English Station on the city's east si ...

Early years

Cantwell prepped at

Paducah Tilghman High School Paducah Tilghman High School is a public secondary school in Paducah, Kentucky. It is the only high school in the Paducah Independent School District. History The school opened at its first location in 1900, and was named Paducah High School, a ...

Paducah, Kentucky Paducah ( ) is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky. The largest city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located at the confluence of the Tennessee and the Ohio rivers, halfway between St. Louis, Missour ...

, where he became the school's all-time passing leader, completing 458-756 passes, for 7,272 yards, and 70 touchdowns. He set the Kentucky 3-A state playoff record for passing yards in a game (409) while going 31-8 as a starter.

College career

Cantwell walked on to the

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

Cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

football team prior to the 2005 season. On November 25, 2005, QB

Brian Brohm Brian Joseph Brohm (born September 23, 1985) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is currently the interim head coach, quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for Purdue University. He played college football at Louisv ...

injured his leg in a game against Syracuse and was out for the rest of the season. Cantwell stepped in and completed 3 of 5 passes for 66 yards, helping the Cardinals to a 41-17 victory. On December 2, 2005, Cantwell started the season finale on the road against

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, completing 16 of 25 passes for 271 yards and 1 touchdown, aiding Louisville in a 30-20 win. In the 2006 Gator Bowl against

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

, Cantwell played well, throwing for 216 yards and 3 touchdowns. Despite his efforts, Virginia Tech won the game, 35-24. He was voted the Cardinals MVP of the Gator Bowl.

2006

On September 16, 2006, after Brohm suffered a thumb injury against

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, Cantwell went into the game and completed 3 of 4 passes for 113 yards and 1 touchdown. Louisville defeated Miami, 31-7. Cantwell started the next two games for the Cardinals, both on the road, against

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

and

Middle Tennessee State Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or MT) is a public university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Founded in 1911 as a normal school, the university consists of eight undergraduate colleges as well as a college of graduate studies, together of ...

. Against the Wildcats, he completed 18 of 26 passes for 173 yards and 1 touchdown in a 24-6 Louisville win. Against the Blue Raiders, Cantwell completed 17 of 32 passes for 340 yards and 3 touchdowns, leading the Cardinals to a 44-17 rout. Cantwell helped lead the Cardinals in winning games for most of the 2006 regular season. The Cardinals finished the season 12-1, losing only to

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...

, which helped the Cardinals win an Orange Bowl bid, the highest ranked Bowl Game Louisville has played in. The Cardinals won the 2007 Orange Bowl against Wake Forest 24-13 under Brohm.

2007

In 2007, Cantwell played sparingly in a disappointing 6-6 season for the Cardinals. He was nominated for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and the Maxwell award in the 2008 preseason.

2008

After leading the team to a 5-2 start, the Cards lost their last five games to finish 5-7, making it the first time since 1996-97 the Cardinals football team missed a bowl game in consecutive years.

Professional career

Carolina Panthers

After going undrafted in the

2009 NFL Draft The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. T ...

, Cantwell signed a three-year contract with the

. He was waived during final cuts on September 5 and re-signed to the

the following day. The Panthers promoted Cantwell to the active roster on December 24 after

Jake Delhomme Jake Christopher Delhomme (; born January 10, 1975) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL). Delhomme played college football at Louisiana, then known as the University of Southwestern Louisiana ...

was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

. Cantwell was waived during final cuts on September 4, 2010.

Baltimore Ravens

On September 5, 2010, Cantwell was signed to the

practice squad, waived on September 9, 2010, and then signed back onto the practice squad on September 14, 2010. Cantwell was cut September 3, 2011, and signed to the practice squad again the next day. On September 29, Cantwell was cut from the Ravens' practice squad.

Coaching career

Cantwell had a contract offer from the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

in the 2012 offseason, but chose instead to become the

for the

football team. He later served as head coach at Carroll County High School in Kentucky from November 2016 to 2018, and was hired as the head coach at

in March 2019.

References

External links

Carolina Panthers bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cantwell, Hunter 1985 births Living people American football quarterbacks Baltimore Ravens players Campbellsville Tigers football coaches Carolina Panthers players Louisville Cardinals football players Paducah Tilghman High School alumni Sportspeople from Chattanooga, Tennessee Sportspeople from Paducah, Kentucky Players of American football from Kentucky