NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt’s Eli Stowers has been selected as a semifinalist for the 2025 William V. Campbell Trophy® it announced by the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame.
Celebrating its 36th year, the Campbell Trophy® recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership. Candidates for the award must be a senior who will complete his final year of eligibility in the 2025 season or a graduate student or graduate transfer who has already earned a degree and is participating in the 2025 season; have a undergraduate grade-point average of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale; have outstanding football ability as a first-team player or significant contributor; and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship.
Stowers, who hails from Denton, Texas, was named a first-team preseason All-American by eight different organizations this summer including the Walter Camp Football Foundation, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Associated Press, The Athletic, The Sporting News, Athlon and Phil Steele. He also was named to watch lists for the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, Biletnikoff Award, John Mackey Award and Lombardi Award after earning first-team All-SEC recognition in 2024.
Thus far this season, Stowers leads the team with 16 receptions for 233 yards and has scored one touchdown in helping the Commodores climb into the top 20 in both the AP and AFCA coaches’ polls after recording a 4-0 start to the campaign. The tight end has posted at least three catches in every contest, including pacing Vandy with 86 yards in a season-opening victory over Charleston Southern and 73 yards in the Dores’ most recent win over Georgia State that saw the program finish with 635 yards of total offense while scoring 70 points for the first time since 1918.
Stowers is Vanderbilt’s career active leader with 65 receptions and 871 receiving yards since the start of the 2024 season.
The NFF will announce 12-16 finalists on Oct. 22, and each of them will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 2025 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments. The finalists will travel to the Bellagio Resort & Casino in Las Vegas for the 67th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on Dec. 9, where their accomplishments will be highlighted in front of one of the most powerful audiences in all of sports. Live during the event, one member of the class will be declared as the winner of the 36th Campbell Trophy® and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000.
Stowers and the nationally-ranked Commodores will face Utah State Saturday at 11:45 a.m. at FirstBank Stadium in their final nonconference matchup of the season. The game can be seen on SEC Network.
