Rivals.com: Chelsea football player Berkley Edwards commits to Minnesota

By Kyle Austin Sports Reporter

Posted on Fri, Nov 30, 2012 : 9:53 a.m.

Chelsea running back Berkley Edwards, far right, has verbally committed to the University of Minnesota.

Daniel Brenner | AnnArbor.com

Chelsea running back Berkley Edwards has verbally committed to play for the University of Minnesota, Rivals.com is reporting.

According to Rivals, Edwards is the tenth member of the class of 2013 to commit to Minnesota, and the first running back. The Golden Gophers went 6-6 this year, including 2-6 in the Big Ten, under second-year head coach Jerry Kill.

Edwards, a senior, can sign his national letter of intent on signing day, Feb. 6.

The commitment is the end of a recruiting process for Edwards that accelerated last week after Iowa rescinded its scholarship offer. Aside from Minnesota, his only other offer from a BCS conference program was from California, which recently fired coach Jeff Tedford.

All of Edwards' other offers were from Mid-American Conference schools.

Edwards is the younger brother of former Michigan wide receiver Braylon Edwards. The elder Edwards was critical of the Michigan coaching staff and its decision not to recruit Berkley Edwards, and echoed that last night on his Twitter page.

As a senior, Edwards rushed for 1,329 yards and 21 touchdowns in the regular season and helped lead the Bulldogs from an 0-3 start to their 15th consecutive playoff appearance. In two years as the Bulldogs’ starter, Edwards has 2,849 yards and 39 touchdowns.

Last week, he was named to the Associated Press Division 3-4 All-State team.