Hog Futures: Austin Cantrell

Trading in goats for Hogs

Big, fast tight end is willing to work

Roland (Okla.) High's Austin Cantrell was one of three highly-touted tight ends Arkansas signed in its 2015 recruiting class. (Photo courtesy of LaDonna Cantrell)

FAYETTEVILLE -- Austin Cantrell is a self-made guy, Oklahoma farmhand style, who has bent stereotypes and face masks on his way to Arkansas.

Cantrell can run the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds, which isn't unusual for a football player. It is less common, however, for a 6-4, 250-pound two-time state shot put champion who got on the radar of major college recruiters as a tight end and defensive end at Roland (Okla.) High, just across a bend in the Arkansas River from Fort Smith.

Austin Cantrell glance

CLASS Freshman

HEIGHT/WEIGHT 6-4, 250

POSITION Tight end/H-back

AGE 19 (Dec. 9, 1995)

HOMETOWN Roland, Okla.

LAST STOP Roland High School

NOTEWORTHY Three-sport standout at Class 4A Roland who led the Rangers to their first state championship in track and field this spring. … All-State selection as a defensive end by Oklahoma Coaches Association, and played tight end, H-back and quarterback. … Rated No. 7 tight end in the nation and No. 4 prospect in Oklahoma by 247Sports. Rated No. 9 tight end in the country and No. 7 player in the state by ESPN. No. 9 prospect in Oklahoma by Rivals, and No. 26 tight end in America by Scout. No. 8 on The Oklahoman’s Super 30 list of state recruits. … Ran 95 times for 600 yards and 9 touchdowns and caught 14 passes for 270 yards and 1 touchdown as a senior. … Racked up 141 tackles, 51 tackles for loss and 31 sacks his final two seasons and is Roland High’s all-time sacks leader. President of Roland High’s Future Farmers of America and assisted in FFA food drives.

Cantrell flew across the finish line as the anchor leg on Roland's state champion 400- and 800-meter relay teams, helping lead the Class 4A Rangers to their first state championship in any sport last spring.

He also finished second in the shot put, after winning state titles in that event as a sophomore and junior, and fifth in the discus.

"Sometimes I don't feel as big as I am," Cantrell said.

"I've been doing this 23-24 years, and not just in Oklahoma," Roland Coach Jeff Streun said. "Even in Texas we had several Division I kids, and I've not seen a guy like him. This kid can be 245 to 255 pounds in a hurry and still maintain that speed. Not only that, he's just explosive. He can jump.

"He's a natural athlete, and so he's the only one I've seen like that as versatile as he is."

Cantrell, who worked on his family's 12-acre goat farm outside Roland, set lofty goals as a young athlete. After finishing 16th in the shot put at the state meet as a freshman, he turned to the Internet to improve his form.

"He said, 'That'll never happen again. I'm not going to look stupid in front of people,' " said his mother, LaDonna. "So he taught himself by watching YouTube.

"The school doesn't have a throwing pit. They had to tape out a circle. He would throw and I would film him. Then he would play it back in slow motion to watch when his hips opened, where his rotation was, where his release was. He spent a season doing that and critiquing himself and he developed his own technique.

"He's just that driven. If he wants something, he's going to make it happen."

Cantrell won state the next two seasons in the shot put.

As a sophomore defensive end, Cantrell showed his raw strength after a teammate who was struggling to block him threw a couple of cut blocks that nicked Cantrell's knees.

"This kid, I mean nobody could block him. Not on our team, much less anybody in our class," Streun said. "So this [offensive lineman] started cutting him, and he got him on the knee and p* him off.

"That's one thing you don't want to do with Austin is get him p*. ... We were like, 'He's fixing to get all over this kid. He jumps off the football, fires off and brings a forearm right to this kid's face mask and it literally caved the face mask in. I mean, bent it. Never seen anything like it."

"It was kind of like a Picasso, slid to one side," LaDonna Cantrell said. "It's really odd."

Cantrell is joining a crowded tight end spot at Arkansas, but his frame and athletic skills should allow him to branch out into other roles.

"I think I can work my way up the depth chart, hopefully," Cantrell said. "I need to start learning the playbook and hopefully work my way up into some playing time. Coach [Barry] Lunney made it sound like I was going to be a big contributor at some point, so I believe him."

Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema, asked at SEC media days if he thought Cantrell could be an immediate help on special teams, quickly replied: "I think he goes a lot more than that. I think he's a guy who can help us in a variety of ways."

Cantrell's athleticism and versatility drew the attention of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, but the proximity of the Arkansas campus less than an hour from Roland and other factors played out in the Razorbacks' favor.

"After I came here, I really liked the coaches a lot," Cantrell said. "It's a lot closer. It's a good program. I love the fans and everything. You're not going to find better fans than the ones here. They're on the upswing, and hopefully I get to be a part of it."

An avid hunter and fisherman, Cantrell made an immediate connection with Lunney, his lead recruiter and position coach.

"He used to fish in tournaments," Cantrell said. "We clicked pretty fast. We talk about fishing all the time. He's a pretty cool guy. He's an aggressive coach in a way, but not too much. I like the way he coaches."

Cantrell said he's been sporting a pretty thick beard since his freshman year in high school and he's been awed by people who have come up to meet him based on his athletic exploits.

"It's pretty cool when you're in high school, especially when I'm looking like I'm 30," he said grinning.

Cantrell has impressed Arkansas teammates since his arrival on campus for the first summer session.

"He's a country strong guy, noticeable right off the bat," quarterback Brandon Allen said. "He came in with a mullet mohawk, just a noticeable guy. He's a big, strong guy and he can run really well for his size.

"He's got some learning to do, but he's going to be a good player for us."

Bielema chuckled when asked about the mullet mohawk look.

"If there's anybody who could rock a mullet, it would be Austin," he said. "He'd be the only one to try to do it as well."

Sports on 08/02/2015