NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tight end Eli Stowers and punt returner Martel Hight led a group of seven Vanderbilt football players named All-SEC by Phil Steele on Monday.
Stowers and Hight were first-team selections, while kicker Brock Taylor and punter Jesse Mirco were third-team picks and quarterback Diego Pavia, linebacker Bryan Longwell and kick returner Junior Sherrill were chosen fourth-team.
Stowers, Hight, Mirco and Taylor were all voted All-SEC by the league’s coaches earlier this month, as well.
Stowers, a semifinalist for the Mackey Award, led the Commodores in receptions, receiving yards and touchdown receptions this season. He was twice chosen the Pro Football Focus National Team of the Week tight end, including after eclipsing 100 receiving yards in Vandy’s win over No. 1 Alabama. The Denton, Texas, native had four catches for 55 yards and a score in the Birmingham Bowl victory over Georgia Tech.
Hight returned 18 punts for 265 yards on the season, good for an average of 14.7 yards per return. He became the first Commodore with a punt return for a touchdown since 2012 when he had a 57-yard return for a score against Alcorn State on Sept. 7. He was one of three players with a punt return for a touchdown in the SEC this season.
Taylor, a Lou Groza Award semifinalist, was a two-time SEC Special Teams Player of the Week and set the Vanderbilt career record for 50-yard field goals in his redshirt freshman season. He made his first collegiate attempt from 53 yard in the season-opening win over Virginia Tech and made a school-record 57-yard field goal at Missouri. Taylor made a pair of field goals (49 and 50 yards) in the win over Alabama and connecting on his only attempted from 31 yards in the bowl-clinching win at Auburn. Taylor finished the season with 93 points, second-most in school history.
Mirco led the SEC in punting in his lone season as a Commodore, averaging 48.0 yards on 51 punts. He pinned opponents inside their own 20-yard line on 21 occasions and 20 of his punts went for over 50 yards. His punting average for the season is the second-best in school history, trailing only Ricky Anderson’s 48.2-yard All-America campaign in 1984.
Pavia, the 2024 SEC Newcomer of the Year, led Vanderbilt to its first winning record and first bowl victory since 2013. His impact was apparent immediately, as he was the only quarterback to eclipse 100 passing and 100 rushing yards during Week 1 of the season, leading the Dores to a win over Virginia Tech.
He went on to be named a semifinalist for both the Maxwell Award and Davey O’Brien Award while throwing the fewest interceptions by a Vanderbilt quarterback since at least 1996 (minimum 200 attempts) and the second-fewest interceptions among SEC quarterbacks this season (minimum 250 attempts).
Pavia engineered wins over No. 1 Alabama, Vandy’s first-ever over the nation’s top-ranked team, and at Auburn, Vandy’s first-ever victory at Jordan-Hare Stadium. He was named MVP of the Birmingham Bowl after throwing for 160 yards and three touchdowns while adding 84 rushing yards and two scores on the ground in a 35-27 win over Georgia Tech.
Sherill returned 16 kickoffs this season for 427 yards, good for an average of 26.7 per return. He returned a kickoff 100 yards for a score to open the game against Tennessee in the regular-season finale, becoming the first Commodore with a 100-yard kickoff return since 2014 and just the third in program history.
Longwell led the Commodores with 89 total tackles while his 7.5 for loss were second-most on the team. He added an interception, four pass break-ups and two quarterback hurries. He ranked eighth in the SEC in total tackles.
The Commodores capped the 2024 season with a 7-6 record following the Birmingham Bowl victory as SEC Coach of the Year Clark Lea led Vandy to its first winning season since 2013. The Dores open the 2025 campaign on Aug. 30 against Charleston Southern at FirstBank Stadium.
