John Leslie Cornell Jr. (born June 4, 1989) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was an

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). Cornell originally signed with 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 ...

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 2012. Cornell played

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 ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. Cornell is currently head coach of the Quincy Notre Dame Raiders. In high school, Cornell was ranked the 12th prospect in the state of

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

and was nationally ranked as the 37th prospect at the offensive tackle position. He was a 2006 Max-Enfinger All-American while at Notre Dame High School. He participated in the 2007 Illinois Shrine Bowl.

Early life

Cornell attended Notre Dame High School at

Quincy, Illinois Quincy ( ), known as Illinois's "Gem City", is a city in and the county seat of Adams County, Illinois, United States, located on the Mississippi River. The 2020 census counted a population of 39,463 in the city itself, down from 40,633 in 2010. ...

, in which he earned three letters for football and four letters for wrestling. Cornell was a 2006 Max-Enfinger All-American at high school. Cornell was a two-time Chicago Tribune All-state as both Junior and Senior.

College career

Cornell played

at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

. Cornell played 29 games at

for the

Illinois Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The University operates a number of athletic faci ...

. In his

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

freshman year, he played in two games. In his sophomore year, he played one game for the season. In his junior year, he played 13 games and started 6 of them at guard and at tackle. He helped the Fighting Illini offense lead the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

in rushing and the 11th ranked rushing team in the nation with an average of 246.1 ypg. On November 20, 2010, he helped the

offense record a total of 559 yards, including 519 rushing yards against Northwestern in which Illinois won the game 41-20. In his senior year, he was named a senior

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

for the season. Cornell was a recipient of

's Red Orange Award. He played and started 13 games at

for the season. On October 8, 2011, he helped the Fighting Illini offense to record 518 total yards including 308 rushing yards against

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

in which Illinois wins the game 41-20. On September 24, 2011, he helped anchored the

offense record a total of 463 yards against

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, Michigan, Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region a ...

Professional career

Baltimore Ravens

On April 28, 2012, he signed with the

as an undrafted free agent. On August 31, 2012, he was released on the day of roster cuts. On September 1, 2012, he was re-signed to join the

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, ...

. On August 25, 2013, he was waived by the Ravens.

Oakland Raiders

The Raiders signed Cornell to their practice squad on September 11, 2013 and promoted him to their active roster on October 5 and was waived 2 days later on October 7, 2013 and re-signed to the practice squad on Oct. 9. On October 26, Cornell was promoted again to the active roster and was waived once more 2 days later on October 28, 2013. He was re-signed to the practice squad on October 30, 2013. On November 9, 2013 Cornell was signed again and was waived two days later on November 11, 2013. Once again he was re-signed to the practice squad on November 13, 2013.

Coaching career

Culver-Stockton College

Cornell began his college coaching career in 2017 as the offensive line coach for Culver-Stockton College in Canton,

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. Following his career at Culver-Stockton, he accepted a position at his high school alma mater Quincy Notre Dame as the head football coach.

References

External links

Illinois Fighting Illini bio

Baltimore Ravens bio

Culver-Stockton College bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornell, Jack 1989 births Living people Sportspeople from Quincy, Illinois American football offensive guards Illinois Fighting Illini football players Baltimore Ravens players Oakland Raiders players Players of American football from Illinois