KNOXVILLE -- Tennessee junior safety Eric Berry is this year's lone repeat member of the AFCA Coaches’ All-America Team announced Thursday by the American Football Coaches Association.
Berry was named as a sophomore in 2008 to all five major All-America teams recognized by the NCAA, and this week’s selection is the first of 2009 to be released. He already is a finalist for the Bronco Nagurski and Lott trophies, both of which are presented to college football’s best defensive player, and the Jim Thorpe Award, which is given to the nation's top defensive back.
A Fairburn, Ga., native, Berry is second on the Tennessee team and third among SEC defensive backs with 83 tackles. He leads the team with 18 defensive big plays, which includes seven pass breakups, six tackles for loss (for minus-15 yards), two fumble returns (for 48 yards), two interceptions (for seven yards) and a forced fumble.
Berry is the active NCAA leader and stands second in NCAA history with 494 interception return yards. He is third nationally among active NCAA players with 14 career interceptions, fifth in UT history in interceptions and sixth in total passes defensed.
The SEC led all conferences with seven team members, followed by the Big 12 with six, the Pac-10 with three and the ACC and Big Ten with two apiece. SEC representatives were
2009 AFCA Coaches’ All-America Team
Offense
Pos. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. School Head Coach Hometown (High School)
WR Golden Tate 5-11 195 Jr. Notre Dame Charlie Weis Hendersonville, Tenn. (Pope John Paul II)
WR Mardy Gilyard 6-1 187 Sr. Cincinnati Brian Kelly Bunnell, Fla. (Flagler Palm Coast)
TE Dennis Pitta 6-5 247 Sr. BYU Bronco Mendenhall Moorpark, Calif. (Moorpark)
OL Mike Johnson 6-6 305 Sr. Alabama Nick Saban Pensacola, Fla. (Pine Crest)
OL Russell Okung 6-5 300 Sr. Oklahoma St. Mike Gundy Houston, Texas (Bush)
C Chris Hall 6-4 295 Sr. Texas Mack Brown Irving, Texas (Irving)
OL Trent Williams 6-5 315 Sr. Oklahoma Bob Stoops Longview, Texas (Longview)
OL Mike Iupati 6-6 330 Sr. Idaho Robb Akey Anaheim, Calif. (Western)
QB Colt McCoy 6-2 210 Sr. Texas Mack Brown Tuscola, Texas (Jim Ned)
RB Mark Ingram 5-10 215 So. Alabama Nick Saban Flint, Mich. (Southwestern)
RB Toby Gerhart 6-1 235 Sr. Stanford Jim Harbaugh Norco, Calif. (Norco)
Defense
Pos. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. School Head Coach Hometown (High School)
DL Ndamukong Suh 6-4 300 Sr. Nebraska Bo Pelini Portland, Ore. (Grant)
DL Jerry Hughes 6-3 257 Sr. TCU Gary Patterson Sugar Land, Texas (Austin)
DL Jared Odrick 6-5 296 Sr. Penn St. Joe Paterno Lebanon, Pa. (Lebanon)
DL Derrick Morgan 6-4 272 Jr. Georgia Tech Paul Johnson Coatesville, Pa. (Coatesville)
DL Brian Price 6-2 300 Jr. UCLA Rick Neuheisel Los Angeles, Calif. (Crenshaw)
LB Rolando McClain 6-4 258 Jr. Alabama Nick Saban Decatur, Ala. (Decatur)
LB Greg Jones 6-1 228 Jr. Michigan St. Mark Dantonio Cincinnati, Ohio (Moeller)
DB Eric Berry* 5-11 195 Jr. Tennessee Lane Kiffin Fairburn, Ga. (Creekside)
DB Joe Haden 5-11 190 Jr. Florida Urban Meyer Fort Washington, Md. (Friendly)
DB Javier Arenas 5-9 198 Sr. Alabama Nick Saban Tampa, Fla. (Robinson)
DB Earl Thomas 5-10 197 So. Texas Mack Brown Orange, Texas (West Orange Stark)
Specialists
Pos. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. School Head Coach Hometown (High School)
P Drew Butler 6-2 203 So. Georgia Mark Richt Duluth, Ga. (Peachtree Ridge)
PK Kai Forbath 6-0 192 Jr. UCLA Rick Neuheisel Pacific Palisades, Calif. (Notre Dame)
AP C.J. Spiller 5-11 195 Sr. Clemson Dabo Swinney Lake Butler, Fla. (Union County)
* 2008 AFCA All-America.
(E-mail Stan Crawley at wscrawley@earthlink.net)