Salesi Moa committed to play for Kyle Whittingham at Utah six weeks ago after a lengthy recruiting battle. He committed to Whittingham again Friday night, this time to play for Michigan.
“The head coach over there and the wide receiver coach, and also the D-line coach, my uncle, coach Lewis (Powell), all of them recruited me from Utah,” Moa said on the NFL Network broadcast. “When they went over to Michigan, I just wanted to go there with them.”
Moa, a top-50 prospect in the class of 2026, announced his commitment during the Polynesian Bowl, a high school all-star game in Honolulu, Hawaii. Moa signed with Utah in December but entered the transfer portal a month later after Whittingham stepped down as Utah’s coach and accepted the job at Michigan.
Moa was the No. 1 player in Utah and the No. 45 player in the 247Sports Composite rankings. He was one of Michigan’s top targets in the 2026 class and visited Ann Arbor several times, including a trip for the Ohio State game in November. Moa was committed to Tennessee at the time but flipped to Utah in December.
Moa is a two-way player who could play wide receiver or defensive back in college. Michigan’s previous staff recruited him to play in the secondary, though he’s also capable of contributing offensively. Moa, listed at 6-feet-1 and 190 pounds, caught 63 passes for 1,272 yards as a senior at Fremont High School in Ogden, Utah.
Moa has ties to Utah and Willingham. Salesi’s father, Ben, played tight end at Utah from 2002 to 2003 under Urban Meyer. Whittingham, then an assistant coach, replaced Meyer the next season and spent 21 seasons as head coach before stepping down on Dec 12. Salesi’s older brother, Aisea, is a linebacker who recently entered the transfer portal and is also projected to land at Michigan. He began his career at BYU and spent last season at Michigan State.
Salesi Moa is the fifth player to leave Utah for Michigan since Whittingham arrived. In a since-deleted social media post, Utah athletic director Mark Harlan quoted a post about Moa’s announcement and added, “Well, he was with us in class for a (last)week. Public announcement … seen it all now (probably not).”
Former Utah defensive end John Henry Daley, center, has transferred to Michigan along with a handful of other key Utah players. (Getty Images via The Athletic)
Utah transfers who have signed with Michigan include edge rusher John Henry Daley, wide receiver JJ Buchanan, cornerback Smith Snowden and defensive tackle Jonah Lea’ea. Whittingham also brought several members of the Utah coaching staff to Michigan, including offensive coordinator Jason Beck, offensive line coach Jim Harding, wide receivers coach Micah Simon, defensive ends coach Powell and strength coach Doug Elisaia.
Now Whittingham has one of the top prospects in Utah’s 2026 recruiting class, too.
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