Virginia Tech Offers Talented DII Tight End From The Transfer Portal

Virginia Tech offers DII transfer tight end Luke Dehnicke. Read more below

Nov 1, 2025; Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; The Virginia Tech Hokies corps of cadets stand on the field with flags before the game against the Louisville Cardinals at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bishop-Imagn Images | Brian Bishop-Imagn Images

Virginia Tech has officially made its first public offer to a transfer portal prospect: DII Minnesota Duluth transfer tight end Luke Dehnicke.

Virginia Tech offered! @CoachRocco pic.twitter.com/nBzJqGxaRT

— Luke Dehnicke (@LDehnicke) December 18, 2025

The offer came on Dec. 17th of this year, but initially went pretty under the radar. It came to the attention of the staff at Vt on Si on Tuesday evening due to Kolby Crawford's 'Crawford Corner' podcast.

Big Portal Class On The Way?

Nov 22, 2025; Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; Incoming head coach James Franklin speaks to fans on the sideline before the game at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bishop-Imagn Images | Brian Bishop-Imagn Images

Dehnicke is a tight end who stands 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds. He spent the first two seasons of his career at the University of Minnesota Duluth, an NCAA Division II program, where he excelled.

He redshirted over his freshman season at UMD and burst onto the scene to begin year two, where he played in 12 games, catching 61 passes for 1,119 yards and 14 touchdowns. He also had two rushing attempts for ten yards and a kick return attempt.

Standing at 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, he has the size of a Division I tight end. He is a bit on the lighter side and has a similar build to Vanderbilt's star tight end Eli Stowers.

Dehnicke's best game came in late October, a game where he had eight catches for 230 yards and four touchdowns, part of a career day. That game was the start of a three-game streak in which he would rack up 520 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.

Virginia Tech offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Ty Howle is renowned as a great tight end evaluator and developer, most notably as the tight ends coach at Penn State during the development of Tyler Warren, one of the NFL's best tight ends as a rookie.

Dehnicke would be a strong pickup for Virginia Tech. He is young, but has experience with one of the nation's top Division II programs. Minnesota Duluth went 10-2 and lost in the playoffs this season.

While he flies a bit under the radar as a Division II transfer, there is no questioning his production. He has a solid offer list early on, with Minnesota, Arizona, Northwestern, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Duke and Kansas also sending out offers.

If Virginia Tech is in the mix, the coaching staff will likely be battling Minnesota as a top suitor, given that it is the only Division I program in his home state, along with him playing at one of the univeristy's satilite schools.

The production and size are there, now it's a matter of recruiting. We are in a dead period, so there hasn't been a visit yet. The Hokies will be hoping to land one of Division II's top transfer prospects once the dead period is lifted and they can bring him on campus.

We will have more as this story develops.