Josh Boyd plans to visit plenty of college campuses before he begins to narrow his list of schools.

The defensive lineman from Philadelphia (Miss.) High School has scholarship offers from Tennessee, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Florida State, Michigan and Southern Miss.

Boyd, 6-foot-3, 270 pounds, said this summer he plans to visit as many of the schools that have offered him as possible.

“I want to get to see the schools before I make a decision,” he said. “I want to see what everything has to offer me before I rush into a decision.”

Boyd hasn’t learned much yet about UT. He said he’s spoken to defensive ends coach Steve Caldwell, who offered Boyd a scholarship.

“He said they like the way I play,” he said. “They want me to come down and see more about the school.”

Right now Boyd knows he’s an important commodity. The Vols have placed a high priority on signing defensive linemen in their 2009 class.

“That’s a pretty big factor,” Boyd said, “if I were to choose to go there knowing they need defensive linemen. I might see a little early playing time.”

He said he hasn’t seen enough of the Vols to be familiar with their style of play.

Boyd has noticed their past success.

“I just think of it as a well-put-together program,” he said. “It’s a nice school and a good place to go.”

Boyd said he hears from many people in his community encouraging him to choose Ole Miss, Mississippi State or Southern Miss.

He said he hasn’t grown up cheering for any particular school and doesn’t expect the outside pressure to influence his decision.

“I wasn’t a fan of anything” he said. “It’ll just be me looking at the schools and picking the one that’s best for me.”

Boyd said he will begin visiting schools after he and his head coach, Teddy Dyess, create a schedule for his summer visits.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.