Tennessee's football coaches received a commitment from defensive tackle Donald Langley on Nov. 6, but it took another month to get his parents on board.

Langley, a defensive tackle from Seneca Valley High School in Germantown, Md., has received pressure from his family, friends and teachers to reconsider his decision and look again at Penn State. The Nittany Lions finished second to UT when Langley made his commitment last month.

The 6-foot-2, 295-pound Langley said his parents favored Penn State until they received an in-home visit from UT coach Phillip Fulmer and assistant coaches Larry Slade and Dan Brooks last Wednesday.

"Coach Fulmer makes about $2 million a year and he was helping my mom with the dishes," Langley said. "He was helping cook. He was helping clean up the table.

"As soon as they walked into my house they became family. They showed my mom that they're not nervous to show they want to be our family."

Langley, who plans to enroll at UT in January, said the short time with the coaches left his parents agreeing that UT is the right choice for their son.

"They were already fitting in with my family," he said. "That's what stuck out with my parents. That's how they were like, 'Yes, my son is going to be perfect at this school.' "

Langley said he hoped for a good visit from UT's coaches because of the negativity surrounding his commitment. The visit went better than he expected.

"My parents were so uneasy with everything," he said. "As soon as they left, my parents were like, 'Yes, now I'm officially comfortable with you going to Tennessee,' because it's the point that they left that big impression on them."

Langley said he always received pressure to choose Penn State, but it picked up considerably once he made his commitment to UT.

"It just bombarded me after I committed because I thought they'd be comfortable with it," he said. "Everybody tried to change my decision, but then I realized this school is where I want to be and that's why I made the decision."

Langley said last month he was glad to have a decision made so the recruiting process could end. When people began to criticize his choice, he said he remembered the relationship he had built with UT's coaches.

"They all have interest in me as a person and then as a football player," he said. "That's what my parents are looking for. They comforted me and my family by telling us that they will definitely take care of me."

Langley said he expects to hear criticism for choosing UT over Penn State, but he said he feels better about handling it with his parents by his side. Now, he's just eager to get to college.

"After this recruiting stuff is over," he said, "I'm going to come to Knoxville, come to the University of Tennessee and make an impact right away. My goal right now is to go there, graduate early, bust my butt to do what I have to do and then make an impact on the football field come August.

"You guys are not going to be hearing about me recruiting-wise. You guys are going to be hearing about me making freshman All-American, freshman this and freshman that, freshman defensive player of the year, and I guarantee you that."