Vanderbilt’s Eli Stowers captures Mackey Award as nation’s best tight end
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Vanderbilt football fans are all fired up about quarterback Diego Pavia having a shot at the biggest award in college football as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy.
That honor will be decided on Saturday night in New York, but on the eve of the Heisman announcement Vanderbilt had something else to cheer for. Its star tight end, senior Eli Stowers, was named the winner of the John Mackey Award on Friday night, being recognized as the top tight end in the country during the 2025 season.
Pavia had a certifiable stud to throw to all season in Stowers, who piled up 62 catches for 769 yards and 4 touchdowns in helping the Commodores to a 10-2 record. It was a magical season in Nashville for a program not used to such success, and Stowers was a huge part of making that success happen along with Pavia.
On a Friday night full of major award winners, Stowers gave Vandy something to be proud of as its fan base gets ready for Saturday night’s Heisman announcement.
The John Mackey Award wasn’t Stowers’s only honor this week. Earlier this week, Stowers was recognized on the academic side as the winner of the William V. Campbell Trophy, which was presented at the National Football Foundation Annual Awards Dinner in Las Vegas.
Plainly put, the Campbell Trophy is considered to be the academic version of the Heisman Trophy, so there is no higher honor in the collegiate academic world for a football player. Stowers is the first Vanderbilt player to win the Campbell Trophy and the 10th player from the SEC.
Fittingly, Stowers’s achievements this week have set the stage for Saturday, when Pavia will take aim at the biggest college football award of all.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
