Ogden • A week before his college commitment, Salesi Moa took a moment to reflect on his childhood.
The five-star athlete from Fremont High School in Ogden thought about the football dreams and goals he had as a kid in fifth grade. He thought about the legacy of his father, Ben Moa, a former Utes tight end in the early 2000s.
Moa’s top choices were down to Utah and Tennessee, but he couldn’t make a decision.
“A week before, I was just thinking to myself, ‘Dang, I don’t know which one to pick,’” Salesi told The Salt Lake Tribune.
As Moa continued to ponder his decision for a few days, drawing on feelings of nostalgia and thoughts of his future, the five-star recruit couldn’t stop remembering how he wanted to play for Alabama, LSU or some SEC school as a kid.
Then it finally hit him.
“As a kid, I was always telling myself that I wanted to play on the biggest stage,” Salesi said.
“That’s why I chose Tennessee.”
Seven days later, Salesi unzipped his jacket to reveal a Volunteer-orange shirt, while also grabbing the Tennessee hat and throwing it on. A crowd of his family and teammates clapped in response, as he made his decision official at his father’s training facility, Tip Top Athlete, in West Haven.
According to Ben, his son’s decision to pick the Volunteers came down to the wire.
“Utah was in the front until the last second,” Ben said. “[Tennessee] even knew it was going to be hard to get a hometown kid, a legacy player.”
Even Salesi’s high school coach, Nate Tuatagaloa, was surprised by his star player’s decision to commit to a school over 1,000 miles away.
“He’s always been a Utah kid because his dad played there,” Tuatagaloa said. “They’d get tickets to go watch them play, sometimes they’d even get sideline tickets. He’d get a lot of those things.
“So, when he chose Tennessee. I was like, ‘Oh, wow.’”
So how did the Volunteers pull off a heist over the U., which is just 50 miles south of Fremont High?
“It was his dream to always play in the SEC,” Ben said. “And, obviously, the staff comes to play. It does help that head coach [Josh Heupel] has produced the most NFL receivers since 2021. They put all their resources into developing the kids that they’ve got.”
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Salesi Moa, Fremont wide receiver and strong safety, #8, does his ritual hand shake prior to the game with his father Ben Moa, defensive coordinator for the team on Friday, Aug. 15, 2025 at Weber High School.
Tennessee’s pitch to Salesi Moa
On July 4, as fireworks exploded in the air and the Moa family celebrated Independence Day, Salesi sat down with his two brothers to narrow down his decision.
Sione and Aisea Moa, who play football at UConn and Michigan State, respectively, concocted a points system for their brother to see which school had an edge over the others.
On a scale from one to five — one being the worst and five being the best — the Moa brothers went through factors like a college’s total distance from home, NFL development record, conference affiliation and more.
“When you’re in high school, sometimes you get blinded by stuff that maybe doesn’t really matter,” Sione said. “We went through a list of 20 things and kind of weighed those options.”
At the end of the survey, Tennessee had the highest score and the Utes came in second — by a single point. For Salesi, that’s what started tipping the scales in the Volunteers’ favor.
Next was a Zoom meeting with Heupel and Tennessee wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope. In a slideshow, the Volunteers compared their wide receiver production to Utah’s over the last two decades.
Salesi plays safety on defense, but he wants to specialize as a receiver in college.
“They showed their offensive production, receiver production and play caller production,” Ben said. “That was significant. … Utah, historically, is not known for offense.”
Tennessee, meanwhile, has had 11 wide receivers selected in the first round of the NFL draft, second behind Ohio State. Since 2021, six Volunteer receivers have been drafted.
Utah, by comparison, has had one wide receiver — DeVaughn Vele — drafted in the last 10 years. Former Utes Britain Covey, Dorian Singer and Tim Patrick are currently in the NFL but were signed as undrafted free agents.
Salesi ultimately trusted the Volunteers to develop him into a better NFL prospect than the Utes.
“Coach Pope, he develops a wide receiver into the NFL every year,” Salesi said. “I want to go to the NFL, so why not go to Tennessee?”
Those factors tipped the scales in the Volunteers’ favor at the buzzer, not name, image and likeness money, according to Salesi’s father and mother.
“The money was fairly insignificant to deciding where he would land,” Ben said. ”His journey is not just to play college football — he wants to go to the NFL.”
Christina Moa, Salesi’s mother, added: “To be honest, I don’t think he understands the amount of money, or if anything like that is really relevant to him, because he lives on the budget of a high school kid.”
The Utes, however, did make a strong offer for the five-star. It was comparable to Tennessee’s.
“Utah made a significant push for Salesi,” Ben said.
Of the programs in Salesi’s top five, Michigan offered up the most money, the Moas said.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Salesi Moa, Fremont wide receiver and strong safety, #8, is pictured during a game against Weber High School, on Friday, Aug. 15, 2025.
Still a chance to commit to Utah?
Except for telling his family the night before, Salesi didn’t inform Utah or Tennessee’s coaches where he was going until he unzipped his jacket, according to his family members.
So after breaking the news live on social media, Salesi FaceTimed his new head coach, Heupel.
Salesi then called Utah wide receivers coach Micah Simon, as well as Utah defensive line coach Lewis Powell, with whom the Moa’s are close. According to Salesi, the Utes coaches were supportive of his decision and said they “wouldn’t stop recruiting him” until he signed.
Later, reports surfaced on social media that Salesi had told the Utes that he was committing to the program only to change his mind at the 11th hour.
Salesi’s family rushed to his defense online.
“I knew that was a lie, and I didn’t even have to ask him,” Sione said. “I was pretty upset that someone posted that.“
Christina added: “He was just upset. Why was somebody making up a story that wasn’t true? He would never have done that.”
After the social media rumors surfaced online, the Moas said Powell called Salesi again to say, “That’s not us. We’re happy for you,” even though he chose to commit to a different school.
Salesi’s relationship with the Utes has since remained intact and he will have to wait until December 4-6 to officially sign with Tennessee.
So is there any chance he could flip come signing day?
“My mind’s still open,” Salesi said. “But I know it’s Tennessee, so I think it’s going to be Tennessee [on signing day]. I don’t even know [what it would take]. ... It would have to be something special to me for me to flip.”