Southwest Macon 3-star edge rusher Rinaldo Callaway announces commitment to Rutgers

Southwest-Macon edge rusher Rinaldo Callaway announced his commitment at the beginning of the month as the rising junior announced his commitment to continue his football career playing for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

At 6-foot-4 and 215-pounds, Callaway is ranked in the top-100 players in the state of Georgia in the Class of 2026.

Before committing to Rutgers on June 2, Callaway held offers from college football programs such as Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Wake Forest, East Carolina, USF, Tulane, Troy, Bryant and Liberty before ultimately deciding on the Scarlet Knights at the beginning of the month.

Already possessing the measurables to be a factor at the next level at around 6-foot-4, Callaway will continue to get even stronger as he begins training at the college level as he will begin to bulk up to face a brutal Big 10 schedule that features some of the best college football teams around the country.

Rutgers currently holds a top-10 recruiting class in the country in the Class of 2026 as they currently have 22 commitments in the recruiting cycle.

Callaway joins Woodland-Stockbridge offensive linemen Jared Smith as one of two future Scarlet Knights to be from the state of Georgia in the Class of 2026 for head coach Greg Schiano and his staff.

Both rated as 3-star recruits, look for both Callaway and Smith to bring their battle-tested mindset up North as they bring their experience of playing Georgia high school football with them.

For Southwest-Macon a season ago, Callaway led the team in tackles with 100 on the season to go along with 29 tackles for loss, averaging nine tackles a game. Callaway recorded 11.5 sacks and three pass deflections as he led the Patriots defense.

As good as he was off the edge last season for Southwest Macon, Callaway played some snaps at tight end for the Patriots offense where he recorded 274 yards on 17 receptions, including three touchdowns, averaging about 25 yards per catch with the second-most receiving yards on the team.

Callaway and Southwest Macon will start their 2025 season on Friday August 15 at Macon County as they will look to improve on a 4-7 season a year ago.