"We are excited about our 2007 class of new Volunteers. Our recruiting efforts paid off for us as we did well in-state, as we filled most of our needs by position, held firm with our commitments and closed well at the end.

"Gerald Harrison and Scott Altizer, from the recruiting organization stand point, did a great job and Matt Luke as the recruiting coordinator did a great job as well. The energy and enthusiasm of our new staff, to team recruit and get prospects on campus was outstanding. There were many long days and nights and lots of miles traveled, but once we got them to campus our players and program sold itself.

"We have five from this class already on campus and I look forward to summer school when the rest of them join our team and start meshing into our program."

• Eric Berry, Chris Donald and Ben Martin bring the Volunteer total to 68 PARADE All-America signees. Chris Donald makes the 35th All-USA signee in Tennessee history as named by USA Today. USA Today began naming its All-America team in 1982, while PARADE's team debuted in 1963.
• Tennessee has five signees who played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl and an additional signee, Rolando Melancon, who was invited to play in the game.
• The Vols signed three Gatorade Players of the Year from their respective states -- Georgia's Eric Berry, Ohio's Ben Martin and Oklahoma's Gerald Jones -- more than any other school.
• UT CONNECTIONS: Eric Berry's father, James Berry (1978-81), was a three-year starter, four-year letterman and 1981 team captain for the Vols. Darris Sawtelle's grandfather, Darris McCord (1952-54) was a captain and All-America tackle at Tennessee and played 13 years as a member of the Detroit Lions.
• Kenny O'Neal is the son of former NFL tight end Kenny O'Neal Sr., who played for the New Orleans Saints.
• Today's signing class includes prospects from 13 different states, the most since 2002 when the Vols had representatives from 14 states. In Phillip Fulmer's 13 recruiting classes, UT has had signees from at least 10 states nine different times. The most states represented were 15 in 2000.