Say this much about Josh Nunes: He doesn’t live his life afraid.

The quarterback from Upland (Calif.) High School, who calls himself a “big rollercoaster guy”, committed to Tennessee before even stepping foot on campus. As for his first plane trip, which took place last week en route to Knoxville, Nunes didn’t even flinch.

“That was actually my first time flying,” the 6-foot-4, 211-pound Nunes said Wednesday. “That was pretty cool for me.”

So cool in fact that Nunes didn’t even mind the long flight.

UT’s coaches are happier than the Nunes’ family travel agent that the trip went so well, too. Nunes is ranked the 16th and 10th best pro-style quarterback in the nation by Scout.com and Rivals.com, respectively.

Nunes was more than just a pleasant summer surprise when he committed in June. Since, Nunes said he’s had no second thoughts and certainly won’t have any following his week-long visit.

“Coming in, I had some pretty high expectations,” Nunes said. “Coming in and seeing it, it really exceeded my expectations. I fell in love with the Knoxville area.”

And almost as importantly, Nunes’ parents felt the same way.

“They got to spend quite a bit of time with the coaching staff,” Nunes said. “They felt really comfortable with everything. That was a big thing, having their blessing.”

The Nunes family made a family vacation of the recruiting trip, even driving to Gatlinburg for a night in the mountains.

Nunes said trips to Knoxville might be limited for his parents during his playing career. Hopefully, Nunes said, they’ll get to UT for at least a couple of games per season. If not, they’ll still be supporting their newfound favorite team.

“They’ll definitely be watching on TV,” Nunes said. “I think they are really in agreement with me in choosing Tennessee. They absolutely love the coaching staff and the players.”

When asked what stood out about his trip, Nunes said “size”: the size of UT’s offensive lineman and the athletic facilities.

“This is nothing like I’ve ever seen or experienced before,” Nunes said, recalling his thoughts as he saw Neyland Stadium and the Neyland-Thompson athletic complex. “Quite frankly, they blew all the other (school’s) facilities away.

“You could definitely tell from my visit that football is on a different level than other places in the country.”

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.