SAN ANTONIO — Tennessee has landed another huge pickup from within its own state, and this time it’s Nashville (Tenn.) Hillsboro defensive end Kyle Phillips.

Top247 defensive end Kyle Phillips of Hillsboro High School in Nashville, Tenn., is ranked the nation's No. 110 overall prospect in the 247Sports Composite for the 2015 class.

The four-star defender made his commitment public on national television at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl after a week of deliberation between his finalists of LSU, Ole Miss and the Volunteers.

"I’m going to Tennessee,” Phillips told 247Sports prior to his announcement. “I just felt like that was the best place for me overall. I felt the most at home there out of those three schools. That was probably the biggest factor.”

The decision didn’t come easy for Phillips. He didn’t know for sure that Tennessee was his destination until Friday, the day before his announcement. In fact, Phillips said that he was leaning toward Ole Miss at the beginning of the week before coming around to the Volunteers. He talked about how he made that transition.

“Really, just knowing that I kind of felt like the other schools I was going for were for the coaches, not the school,” he said. “With Tennessee, I still had a good relationship with the coaches, but the whole school felt right. I had a better relationship with Tennessee than the other schools.”

Phillips is close with his mother, who had her own opinions and favorites during the recruiting process. But Tennessee was able to win her over as well on Kyle’s final official visit before making a decision.

"Actually, when we took that official visit, that might have been her favorite school after that,” he said of his mother’s reaction to the Vols official. "She might have liked LSU the most, but when she saw Tennessee and liked it, too, and realized it was closer to home, too, I feel like she was leaning towards them."

Another factor that helped Tennessee really showcase what kind of a priority Phillips was to its program was that Butch Jones became his lead recruiter.

"[Jones] just showed me how bad they wanted me," Phillips said. "Every head coach doesn’t take the time to recruit as hard as him. That really showed me how bad they wanted me, just hearing from him all the time."

Jones’ lead in Tennessee’s recruitment of Phillips helped overcome some strong relationships with LSU and Ole Miss. For the Rebels, it was Chris Kiffin that made a strong impression. For the Tigers, it was Brick Haley and John Chavis.

"Really, just I’ve built good relationships with the coaches from the other two schools,” he said. "I really enjoyed those other two schools, but I just felt like Tennessee is the place for me."

While Phillips is an early enrollee, the process has been so hectic for the 6-4, 265-pounder and he’s been so undecided that he doesn’t even know when he enrolls this month. What he does know, though, is that he plans to compete immediately for playing time. That opportunity is another factor that drew him towards the Vols.

We asked Phillips if the play of Derek Barnett as a true freshman impacted his decision. He said it was more than that.

"Really just the whole team, really, knowing that they don’t care if you’re a freshman if you’re good enough to play you’ll pay early," Phillips said.

As hard as this process has been for Phillips, he’s resting easy knowing that he made the right decision.

"It was definitely the hardest thing to tell those other two schools that I wasn’t coming," he said. "I loved them so much and I had such good relationships with them. All the schools, I really saw myself at every one of them. It’s definitely a relief. I’m just happy about my decision. I think I made the right decision."

With Phillips’ commitment, Tennessee has moved up the No. 4 recruiting class in the country, according to 247Sports.