Stowers, Hight both named to coaches' team revealed Tuesday

Vanderbilt had a pair of football student-athletes recognized on the preseason All-SEC team as voted on by the league’s 16 head coaches, with Eli Stowers earning first-team recognition and Martel Hight named to the third-team in an announcement from the conference office on Tuesday.

Stowers was also a first-team preseason All-SEC selection at tight end on the squad chosen by conference media outlets last month.

He ended last season with 49 receptions for 638 yards and five touchdowns, leading the team in each category while being voted first-team All-SEC. Stowers paced the Dores in receiving yards on five occasions a year ago, highlighted by 100-yard efforts against No. 1 Alabama (113), Ball State (130) and Georgia State (110), while topping Vandy in catches seven times.

The graduate student from Denton, Texas, has been named to seven different preseason All-America teams this summer—Walter Camp Football Foundation, ESPN, Associated Press, The Athletic, The Sporting News, Athlon and Phil Steele—and is also on watch lists for the Walter Camp Player of the Year, Biletnikoff, John Mackey and Lombardi Awards.

Hight, who hails from Rome, Georgia, was recognized as an all-purpose athlete after starting all 13 games at cornerback for the Dores in 2024 while also serving as the team’s punt returner. On defense, the junior was credited with 33 tackles, a pair of interceptions and four more passes broken up including recording a career-high-tying seven stops at seventh-ranked Missouri as well as posting four tackles, an interception and another pass defensed against No. 5 Texas.

He was second-team All-SEC and an honorable mention Phil Steele All-American as a return specialist last fall, ranking third in the country in punt return average after running back 18 punts for 265 yards and a score.

Hight is also a candidate for the Paul Hornung Award presented by Texas Roadhouse, presented annually to the most versatile player in college football.

Vanderbilt faces Charleston Southern in its season opener on Aug. 30, with kickoff at FirstBank Stadium set for 6 p.m. It will be the first of seven home games for the Commodores in 2025, with season ticket, mini-plan and single-game ticket options all available here.