TE Commit Eli Owens Impressed with Life Beyond Football at Michigan

Michigan football has the 12th-ranked 2025 recruiting class with 17 players committed.

That number – and likely the ranking – is sure to grow as high school and college football seasons get started.

Eli Owens, who was the third player to join the class back in January, revealed what influenced his commitment.

Speaking to Michael Smeltzer of The Blue Wall, the three-star recalled his decision to become a Wolverine.

“I’ll never hate on Ohio State because I was seriously considering them,” he said in the interview. “But at the end of the day, Ohio State, they talk about getting developed here and it’s just like a factory and it’s like they just churn out players and players and players and players.

“When I was at Ohio State, on those visits, they never talked to me, specifically – and maybe I just didn’t get far enough into the process with them – about what would happen if football didn’t work out and Michigan, that was like the first meeting.”

Owens continued by looking back at one of his first trips to Ann Arbor and the coaching staff’s plans for him beyond the game.

“First visit, freshman year, before we started talking football, before I saw any of the things that we’re seeing in Ann Arbor, we set up like, ‘hey, if you commit here, we will set you up for life’. And that kind of kept me attached.”

Owens added that the Michigan brass was good at having recruits understand that football does not last forever. He shared that the program makes sure that the end of athletes playing career is not the end of their life.

Check out Eli Owens’ full comments below:

“When I was at Ohio State they never talked to me about what would happen if football didn’t work out… At Michigan that was like the first meeting.”

-2025 Commit Eli Owens

Full interview: https://t.co/o3gOPSQbYS pic.twitter.com/WKcOEccsKl

— Wolverine Chronicle (@WolverineChron) August 20, 2024

Michigan’s recruiting class gets stronger

The Michigan Wolverines were able to strengthen their 2025 recruiting class on Tuesday. Sherrone Moore and staff were able to secure a commitment from four-star wide receiver prospect Andrew Marsh. He is the 66th-ranked overall player, and tenth-ranked wide receiver, in the class.

Marsh becomes the 17th prospect – and third-highest ranked player – in Michigan’s 2025 recruiting class. He is the eighth four-star prospect to commit to the Wolverines. The remaining nine players in the class are three-star prospects.

The latest Michigan commit has been described as an explosive and athletic wideout. Marsh also held official visits with the Kentucky Wildcats, Texas Longhorns, USC Trojans and Washington Huskies.

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