LAS VEGAS — Vanderbilt’s Eli Stowers has been named the 36th recipient of the William V. Campbell Trophy® it was announced at the National Football Foundation Annual Awards Dinner presented by Las Vegas.
The Campbell Trophy® ranks as one of college football’s most sought-after and competitive awards, recognizing an individual as the absolute best in the country for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership. Awarded since 1990, the 24-inch, 25-pound bronze trophy comes with a $25,000 postgraduate scholarship. Stowers was selected from a list of 16 members of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments®.
The Denton, Texas, native becomes the first Campbell Trophy® winner from Vanderbilt. He is the school’s fifth NFF National Scholar-Athlete, joining Wade Butcher (1961), Douglas Martin (1974), Andrew McCarroll (1989) and Hunter Hillenmeyer (2002).
Stowers received his undergraduate degree from New Mexico State in 2024, posting a 3.92 cumulative grade-point average, and he completed his master’s degree in finance from Vanderbilt in the spring. A member of the 2024-25 First-Year SEC Academic Honor Roll, he is currently pursuing a master’s of legal studies degree this fall.
During his time at Vanderbilt, Stowers has volunteered at the multiple events at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital and has supported the facility’s Dancing Dores fundraiser while also participating in Social Impact Day with the Pencil Foundation and Metro Nashville Public Schools and assisting at the department’s annual SAAC Holiday Party.
Elected a team captain prior to the start of this season, Stowers has contributed to the Commodores’ 10-2 regular season record with team highs of 62 catches for 769 yards while scoring four touchdowns. He leads all tight ends nationally in receiving yards and is second at the position in the country in receptions after hauling in multiple passes in every contest this season.
Stowers has led the Dores in catches a team-best six times and in receiving yards on four occasions, as he needs only six yards to record the most by a Vandy tight end since the 1996 campaign. He finished with a career-high 146 yards—the second most by a Power 4 tight end this season—on seven catches at No. 20/19 Texas, following up with a career-best 12 receptions for 122 yards in a Homecoming defeat of Auburn.
Stowers is a finalist for the John Mackey Award and is a semifinalist for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award and the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award too. He was a semifinalist for the 2025 Lombardi Award™ as well.
Following tonight’s NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas, Stowers will be recognized as the 2025 Campbell Trophy® recipient at several other prestigious events. On Friday, Dec. 12, he will be recognized during The Home Depot College Football Awards on ESPN. He will be featured on CBS during halftime of the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl on Dec. 31, and will be introduced on the field during the College Football Playoff National Championship on Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Stowers and the Commodores will face Iowa—which was 23rd in the final College Football Playoff rankings—on Dec. 31 at 11 a.m. CT in the ReliaQuest Bowl.
