UTM head football coach Matt Griffin officially landed 23 recruits from seven states in his first recruiting class on the first day of the national signing period.

Griffin, a former assistant coach at the University of Maine, was named the Skyhawks head coach Dec. 12. He recently completed hiring his staff and now he's putting the finishing touches on his first recruiting class.

Clay Goodrich from Union City, Tenn., is the only player from Northwest Tennessee to sign with the Skyhawks. Goodrich is 6-4 and 250 pounds. He will play tight end.

Griffin also signed four players from Shelby County. The trio includes David Gilmore (6-3, 225 pounds) from Cordova High School; Markeseo Jackson (6-0, 215 pounds) from Overton High School in Memphis; Rayvon Smith (5-11, 180 pounds) also from Overton High School in Memphis; and Joel Kilpatrick (5-11, 275 pounds) from Whitehaven High School in Memphis.

Among the other recruits from Tennessee are Will Gallian (6-5, 280 pounds) from Wayne County High School; Shaun Green (6-1, 180 pounds) from Collinwood High School; Sean Mullikin (6-8, 310 pounds) from Cumberland County High School in Crossville; Abner Smith (5 11, 175 pounds) from Page High School in Franklin; and Kyle Wisniewski, who prepped at Bridgeton (Maine) Academy, but calls Dickson home.

Rounding out the list of recruits by state are:

• Florida - Justin Glover, 5-8, 195 pounds, The Bolles School, Yulee, Fla.
• Georgia - Josh Holcomb, 6-0, 190 pounds, Gordon Central High School, Cahoun, Ga.; Jeremy Smith, 5-11, 195 pounds, Jefferson High School, Jefferson, Ga.; Earvin Venzant, 6-2, 201 pounds, North Hall High School, Buford, Ga.; and Steven Whitehead, 5-10, 195 pounds, Cedar Shoals High School, Athens, Ga. -Kentucky - Cole Duncan, 6-4, 270 pounds, Graves County High School, Sedalia.
• Ohio - Craig Compton, 6-4, 255 pounds and Zach Kleinfelder, 6-2, 220 pounds. Both Compton and Kleinfelder are from St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati.
• Pennsylvania - Will Grant, 6-0, 290 pounds and Chester Roebuck, 6-1, 235 pounds. Both Grant and Roebuck prepped at West Catholic High School in Philadelphia.
• Texas - Boyce T. Allbritton, 6-1, 205 pounds; Keller High School, Keller, Texas; Jack Greenwood, 6-1, 185 pounds, Alief Elsik High School, Houston, Texas; and Edward J. White, 6-0, 175 pounds, Keller High School, Keller, Texas.

"We are very excited about the young men we have committed to UTM," Griffin said. "I would like to recognize the effort of our assistant coaches who did such a great job of identifying these great student athletes. In addition, I would like to thank the many individuals from our campus community who helped us attract these young men. We are extremely fortunate to have such great support from Chancellor (Nick) Dunagan and Phil Dane, director of athletics, our faculty members and our students at UTM."