Ray Herring Class: Senior Hometown: Melbourne, FL High School: Holy Trinity Height / Weight: 5-10 / 200 Position: Defensive Safety Birthdate: 09/15/1986

CAREER: Backed up two-time All-American Tom Zbikowski during his first three years with the Irish defense ... appeared in 26 games for Notre Dame, starting one game in 2006, and contributing primarily on special teams where has made 310 appearances ... totaled 26 tackles for the Irish with 12 solo stops, three fumble recoveries and two passes broken up ... will compete for the vacant strong safety starting spot in spring practices.

2007 (JUNIOR): Appeared in the first four games before an injury sidelined him for the rest of the season ... totaled three tackles and recovered two fumbles ... recorded a season high in tackles against Georgia Tech (9/1) in the season opener with two ... the following week, made a tackle vs. Penn State (9/8) ... the highlight of his season was recovering two fumbles vs. Michigan (9/15) ... logged 6:23 of playing time and made 16 special teams appearances.

2006 (SOPHOMORE): Appeared in all 13 games during the regular season ... started the Stanford game at strong safety in place of an injured Tom Zbikowski ... 13th on the team with 18 tackles on the season ... recorded four tackles in the home-opener vs. Penn State ... had one tackle in each game vs. Michigan and Purdue, adding a pass break-up against the Boilermakers ... made a career-high nine tackles in his first career start vs. Stanford ... recorded two tackles versus Navy and one tackle vs. Air Force ... recovered a fumble vs. Army ... registered a pass break-up vs. LSU in the Sugar Bowl ... logged 41:09 of playing time with 179 special teams appearances.

2005 (FRESHMAN): Played in nine games, primarily on special teams, to earn a monogram ... made five tackles (two solos) ... was named the look team's defensive player of the week prior to the Michigan State and Syracuse games ... made his Irish debut against Washington, making an appearance on special teams vs. the Huskies ... was a regular on special teams against Purdue, making 11 appearances, but did not make a tackle ... was in on 16 special teams plays versus USC ... made 17 special teams appearances vs. BYU ... made 10 special teams appearances vs. Tennessee ... made two tackles in the win over Navy and played 5:23 at safety against the Midshipmen (his debut on defense for the Irish) with six special teams appearances ... made two tackles (one solo) in 15 special teams appearances vs. Syracuse ... logged 5:23 of playing time with 115 special teams appearances.

HIGH SCHOOL AND PERSONAL DATA: Graduated from Holy Trinity Academy in Melbourne, Fla. ... as a senior in 2004 he made 76 tackles and nine interceptions at strong safety, carried 40 times for 362 yards and caught 21 passes for 447 yards while accounting for 13 TDs ... rushed 34 times for 316 yards and four TDs as a junior in 2003 ... also caught 31 passes for 831 yards and 12 TDs while making 149 tackles, four sacks, seven interceptions and four fumble recoveries ... a four-time all-state pick who finished seventh in Florida prep history with 25 career interceptions ... was named the team's MVP all four seasons ... was a freshman member of Holy Trinity's first varsity football team and was instrumental in the program's 30-8 regular season record over the next four seasons (including 17-1 in 2003-04) ... led Holy Trinity to two district championships ... Holy Trinity qualified for the state playoffs all four years ... had career totals of 401 tackles, 25 interceptions, 85 catches for 2,063 yards and 29 TDs ... scored 314 points in his prep football career ... a sprinter in track who also played basketball ... coached by John Thomas ... kept a diary about his senior year of high school for the Florida Today newspaper ... full name is Ray Henry Herring Jr. ... born Sept. 15, 1986, in Tampa, Fla. ... father, Ray, Sr., was a highly-recruited defensive back at Palm Bay High School before being paralyzed in a game ... enrolled in College of Arts and Letters, majoring in sociology ... earned a 3.021 grade-point average in '07 fall semester.