KNOXVILLE -- The ink hits the paper and the fax machine comes alive for college football's national signing day on Wednesday.
Tennessee can expect one less signature from a longtime commitment.
Linebacker Dalton Santos officially flipped on the Volunteers, switching his verbal pledge to Texas on Sunday, according to multiple reports. A chance to play for the home-state Longhorns was too much to pass up for the 6-foot-3, 250-pound prospect from Van, Texas. Santos originally committed to Tennessee in August.
"He committed to Texas this morning and he's fired up to be a Longhorn," Albert Santos, Dalton's father, told Orangebloods.com, Texas' site in the Rivals.com network.
Texas offered the Under Armour All-American a scholarship last week, and Santos took an official visit to Austin this weekend. Santos is a four-star prospect according to 247sports, and ESPN rated him as the nation's top inside linebacker. He had offers from Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, TCU and Michigan, among others.
Santos' departure from the Vols' 2012 class leaves Otha Peters (Covington, La.) and Justin King (Dunwoody, Ga.) as the class' only committed linebackers.