Signee Spotlight: Meet Enow Etta, Michigan's next great pass rusher

Editor’s Note: This story originally ran in the Michigan recruiting edition of The Wolverine Magazine, which is available for purchase here.

Enow Etta still has three months before he arrives at the University of Michigan.

Ranked as the top recruit in U-M’s 2023 class, Etta knows expectations will be high once he steps foot on campus. Aside from being ranked as the No. 15 defensive lineman and No. 123 overall recruit nationally in the On3 Consensus, he is already being touted as the next great EDGE at U-M in the same mold as future NFL Draft pick Mike Morris.

This offseason, Etta has been following Michigan’s training guidebook provided by strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert as well as working out with defensive line specialist Tank Reed, a Michigan native who spent eight years in the NFL.

“For a guy his size, he’s very limber and flexible,” Reed said. “He’s more flexible than I was. He’s explosive. He has great hips and great bend. He’s going to be the total package. He can play the run and transition to pass rush. He’s instinctual. He’s just a really complete player.”

When Etta isn’t on the field working, you can usually find him in his room with a headset on in front of a three-monitor setup.

“I’m playing a lot of Call of Duty and Madden,” Etta said. “A little Fortnite.”

The usual for a kid Etta’s age.

But Etta is far from your normal teenager. He’s as cultured as you can get, moving with his family from the Pacific Northwest to Georgia to Florida to Africa before eventually settling down in Texas. He’s also brilliant in the classroom and plans to major in engineering and/or computer science.

While most high school seniors would be using his computer setup simply for the purpose of being the best gamer, Etta is a little bit different. He’s already thinking about long-term wealth and has a unique side hustle.

“I have two monitors because I started day trading recently,” Etta said. “I had to get a third monitor to track the stock market.”

Etta’s mature foresight makes his decision to pick Michigan that much more unsurprising. In the era of name, image and likeness, top recruits from around the country are being lured to schools by promises of big deals.

While the NCAA chooses to investigate U-M head coach Jim Harbaugh over buying a prospect a burger, other programs are flat-out participating in pay for play.

That’s certainly not the case in Ann Arbor.

Michigan has taken a hard stance on NIL, pitching a transformational opportunity over a transactional one. Of course, that sell doesn’t work for a lot of blue-chip talent and is a reason Michigan finished outside of the Top 15 in the 2023 On3 Consensus recruiting rankings despite notching back-to-back Big Ten titles and College Football Playoff appearances.

The Wolverines have a bit of a challenge in today’s ever-changing recruiting landscape — finding talented prospects who will buy into the culture. Etta certainly fits the mold.

Michigan State, which has been “NIL-friendly,” was a finalist for Etta. Miami, which has become notorious in the NIL world, made a late push to flip Etta from the Wolverines before signing day.

In the end, Etta made a real business decision.

“Look at what they do with defensive linemen,” Etta said. “The biggest part for me was development. There are a lot of schools that get more five-stars, but one of the first things Coach [Jim] Harbaugh told me was they weren’t going to chase stars. They’re going to chase guys that fit into the system, and that’s been evident the last two years with the success we’ve had.

“On the education side, you have the degree. There aren’t a lot of places that offer more for my future than Michigan. It really has the best of both worlds. I want to do engineering and computer science. The sky is the limit for what they can help me do.”

There is no question Etta will receive the best development possible at Michigan.

The Wolverines have recently produced NFL Draft picks Kwity Paye, Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo, and Mike Morris will soon join that group. At 6-foot-5, 270 pounds, Etta already looks like he’s in the same mold as Hutchinson and Morris and will become even more physically impressive once he starts working in the Michigan strength program.

Etta put up insane stats as a senior last season, racking up 122 total tackles, including 34.0 tackles for loss, 20 sacks, 5 forced fumbles and 2 touchdowns. However, Etta faced lower-level competition and has only been playing the sport for a few years. He started off participating in soccer and tennis before eventually transitioning to basketball and finally football when he enrolled in high school.

Etta’s ceiling is limitless. But in order to truly be that next great Michigan pass rusher, he’ll need to develop under the tutelage of defensive line coach Mike Elston, who is known as one of the best teachers in college football, as well as defensive coordinator Jesse Minter.

“The results speak for themselves on the field,” Etta said. “Michigan gets the most out of their guys. I feel like I haven’t touched the surface of what I can do. I’m really excited to see what Coach Elston and Coach Minter can do for me at Michigan.

“Coach Elston actually talked to me about practice and going against such a great offensive line. I think that’s going to help my game, too. Iron sharpens iron.”

Simply put, Etta and Michigan are a match made in heaven — just ask a former pro.

“It’s a great fit, especially with Enow’s academic background and the fact he wants to do engineering,” Reed said. “I told him, ‘Go to a school that’s going to suit both your needs academically and going to the next level.’ That was Michigan.”