Alabama offers Payton Kirkland
But coaches first will have to win over mom
Veronica Kirkland’s name won’t be found on any national recruiting list.
College football coaches, however, better get to know the name quickly if they haven’t already. To sway her son, talented Dr. Phillips offensive tackle Payton Kirkland, to attend their university, they will first have to earn the trust of Mom.
“What I always tell these coaches is, ‘If you want to win me over, you’ll have to impress my mom,’ ” Kirkland said. “And she’s not easily impressed at all.”
Alabama coach Nick Saban was on the Dr. Phillips campus Wednesday and offered the 6-foot6, 330-pound senior-to-be Kirkland, who now has 49 scholarship offers.
“That’s one I was waiting for,” Kirkland said of Alabama.
He’s has plenty of big-time head coaches vying for his services, and Georgia’s national-championship-winning coach Kirby Smart visited Dr. Phillips on Thursday, arriving aboard a helicopter that landed on the DP practice field.
“He’s definitely competing with coach Saban, for sure ... I’ll tell you that much,” Kirkland said of Smart.
The last heralded offensive line prospect to come out of Dr. Phillips was John Campbell Jr., who is a redshirt junior at Miami. Dr. Phillips has not had any recent Georgia signees, but the last Alabama player from DP was Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, who went on the become an NFL All-Pro with the Green Bay Packers. Clinton-Dix spent most of this past season on the Denver Broncos practice squad.
“Me and Ha Ha, we’ve been talking regularly already, but we were both excited about [the Alabama offer] and he put me on his Facebook and on his Instagram,” Kirkland said.