Michigan has its next pass-catching tight end in Andrew Olesh, a four-star prospect from Center Valley, Pa., who announced his commitment Monday.
Olesh is the No. 5 tight end and No. 118 overall prospect in the 247Sports Composite rankings for the Class of 2025. He picked Michigan over Alabama, Florida and Penn State.
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After flipping Ivan Taylor from Notre Dame earlier in the day, Michigan now has 15 commitments in a 2025 recruiting class that has gained substantial momentum in the past month heading into Sherrone Moore’s first season as head coach. Olesh is the highest-rated offensive player in the class and the second tight end, joining four-star prospect Eli Owens. He’s also the first tight end to commit to Michigan since the Wolverines hired Steve Casula as tight ends coach.
What does this mean for Michigan?
It’s a good bet that every Michigan recruiting class will include at least one wide receiver/tight end hybrid in the mold of current star Colston Loveland and several other young tight ends from recent classes. Olesh is that player for the Class of 2025. At 6 feet 4 and 215 pounds, he lines up mostly as an outside receiver in his highlights, showing good fluidity as a route-runner and the speed to run away from defenders.
Like Loveland was, Olesh is more of a pass-catcher than an in-line blocker at this stage of his career, and he’ll need to continue adding strength to play tight end in the Big Ten. In a breakout junior season at Southern Lehigh High School, he showed the ability to create the kind of matchup problems that Michigan wants from its tight ends. As a bonus, he gave Michigan a recruiting win over Penn State on the Nittany Lions’ home turf.
The Wolverines have been stockpiling talent at tight end for several cycles now, with Marlin Klein, Deakon Tonielli, Zack Marshall and freshmen Brady Prieskorn and Hogan Hansen among the players who will be competing for snaps behind Loveland this season. Olesh should fit in nicely with that group and has a chance to be a difference-maker when his time comes. — Austin Meek, Michigan beat writer
Should Penn State be concerned?
Penn State, with a class that entered Monday ranked 10th nationally in the 247Sports Composite, does not have a commitment from any of the top four players in Pennsylvania. Quarterback Matt Zollers (Spring-Ford) picked Missouri over Penn State, edge rusher Zahir Mathis (Imhotep Institute) is committed to Ohio State and offensive lineman Michael Carroll (Central Bucks East) is committed to Alabama. Olesh picking the Wolverines makes this an odd cycle for Penn State from a local perspective — especially after the Nittany Lions signed three of the top four from Pennsylvania in each of the previous three classes.
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Now, it’s not a reason to panic for Penn State by any stretch. The Nittany Lions have recruited well nationally this cycle, and they are well-stocked at tight end in the coming years, as they already have commitments from Matt Henderson and Brady O’Hara in the 2025 class and signed a top-five tight end in the 2024 class in Luke Reynolds. Still, there’s no doubt this is one of those in-state recruitments that could’ve helped elevate an already strong class to the next level. — Audrey Snyder, Penn State beat writer
(Photo of Sherrone Moore: Scott Taetsch / Getty Images)