Georgia football fans had a lot of hope heading into Tuesday, May 13 as it seemed like they were going to add five-star Jackson Cantwell to their recruiting class. Cantwell is the No. 1 overall player in the country, so it's hard not to be excited for his announcement after Georgia was named the favorite just a few days ago.
But a last second move from Miami has led Cantwell to choose the Hurricanes over Georgia, Oregon and Ohio State.
Georgia fans know exactly what to blame after losing Jackson Cantwell
It is always interesting to see what fans think after a player of this magnitude announces their commitment, especially when the decision doesn't go Georgia's way. Fans can come up with a wide range of reasons why Georgia lost a recruitment, but Georgia fans are pretty unanimous in their thoughts after losing this battle.
That NIL package was just too good to pass up 😂🤷🏽♂️ oh well
— Daryl Turner (@deturner70) May 13, 2025
Money over winning & getting developed. Sad times in CFB.
— PePe (@CLEMSONPEPE) May 13, 2025
Definitely for money. Makes 0 sense otherwise
— FahmazY (@FahmazY) May 13, 2025
💰💰
— everything dawgs (@DawgsDem12) May 13, 2025
I guess $2.5m is the price it takes to go to an inferior conference and turn into a day 3 pick instead of a first rounder. Enjoy that ghost town stadium!
— Cnote (@CnoteLml) May 13, 2025
One thing the NIL era taught me:
— Lowkey Rey 2.0 (@AtlRey) May 13, 2025
Recruiting doesn’t matter like it used to.
You could build a relationship for years --
Then a school shows up last minute with a bag and it’s game over.
Are Georgia fans right to blame NIL?
Its impossible to know if NIL is the exact reason why Cantwell chose Miami over Georgia or not, but on the surface it does feel like that is the case.
Georgia was the favorite to win this recruitment just 24 hours ago as recruiting experts from On3 and 247Sports predicted the Bulldogs to come out on top. But a last minute report Monday evening indicated that Miami was beginning to pick up steam. Recruiting momentum doesn't just change for no reason this late in a recruitment, so there really is only one thing that could have happened.
Miami likely increased their NIL offer to be greater than the $2 million initially offered, and this offer was probably much more than Georgia, Ohio State or Oregon were willing to offer.
While there are probably a lot of things that Cantwell likes about Miami, it's hard to not think that NIL was the biggest factor in his decision. And if that is the case, thenf Kirby Smart and Georgia will be just fine to live with that result.