Berry Repeats as AFCA All-America

Dec. 4, 2009

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.

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.

University of Tennessee Athletics

Players Mentioned

Eric Berry

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