Three-star tight end Eli Owens for 2025 is transferring to Michigan rather than Tennessee and Alabama

It is always an impressive feat to land a high school prospect from an SEC state who has an offer from a school in the same state.

That’s exactly what Michigan Football did earlier this year with the three-star tight end from Alcoa (Tenn.) Eli Owenswho joined the Wolverines on January 4 as one of the “Top Nine,” which also included Tennessee, Alabama, Ohio State, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin, Cincinnati and South Florida. Owens was the third high school prospect to choose Michigan in the 2025 recruiting class.

At 6’2″ and 230 pounds, Owens is ranked as the No. 451 overall prospect, No. 23 tight end and No. 15 player from Tennessee this current cycle, according to 247Sports Composite Rankings. He was primarily drafted by assistant coach Grant Newsomewho served as the Wolverines’ tight end coach for the past two seasons, but has since been moved to the offensive line by the head coach Sherron MooreThis offseason, Moore hired Massachusetts offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Steve Casula to coach UM’s tight end department in 2024.

Casula was able to strengthen Michigan’s tight end selection in the 2025 recruiting class by signing the high-profile four-star player from Southern Lehigh in Center Valley (Pa.) Andrew Oleshwho committed to the Wolverines on July 8. It’s unlikely that UM will add another tight end this recruiting cycle, but the coaching staff has to be excited to have both Owens and Olesh on the team.

Michigan currently has 16 high school prospects committed for the 2025 recruiting class, ranking Michigan 12th in the country and 3rd in the Big Ten, behind only Ohio State and Oregon. The Wolverines’ average player rating of 91.63 is the eighth-best in the country.

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