It did not take Dabo Swinney long to win Levon Kirkland over. While everyone else became a fan when Clemson started to win ACC and National Championships on a regular bases, Kirkland was a Swinney fan a longtime before.
Actually, the All-American linebacker whose name is etched into the Ring of Honor at Memorial Stadium, became a fan while Swinney was still the interim head coach. Kirkland recalls coming over to Swinney’s old office in the WestZone a couple of days prior to the Tigers’ game against archrival South Carolina in 2008.
“I visited him on Thanksgiving that year and I remember him showing me his whole plan,” Kirkland said on ESPNU Radio’s Off Campus show last week.