Tiger Tuesday features a Clemson athlete from the past that significantly impacted their program. Today we look back at Clemson Football defensive lineman who was a major contributor to the Tigers’ first College Football Playoff berth.
Kevin Dodd – Defensive End, 2012-15
- Honorable Mention All-ACC 2015
- 107 tackles
- 26.5 tackles for loss
- 12 sacks
Dodd played high school football at Riverside HS in Greer, South Carolina. He was a two-sport athlete, playing football and track. 247Sports rated Dodd as a 3-star prospect. Dodd attended Hargrave Military Academy in 2011 before arriving at Clemson for the 2012 season for head coach Dabo Swinney.
Dodd’s stats don’t blow anyone away at first glance. He didn’t see significant playing time during his first three years in the program, totaling 21 tackles. He made the best of his opportunity to start in 2015, collecting 86 tackles and 12 sacks in 15 games.
Dodd had 23.5 tackles for a loss in 2015. That mark ranked second in the nation, trailing only teammate Shaq Lawson, who started at defensive end opposite Dodd. That statistic makes it easy to understand why Clemson took the step from ACC contender to National Championship contender that season.
Dodd didn’t have a lot of preseason hype going into 2015, so he flew under the radar until late in the season. Had he been better known, he probably would have been named to the All-ACC team that season. He ended up as an honorable mention member of the team.
Clemson Football knew Kevin Dodd was good, but everyone else found out in the 2015 College Football Playoff
If there were people nationally who didn’t know who he was before the 2015 playoffs, Dodd made sure they knew his name afterward. He had 3.5 tackles for a loss with one sack in 68 snaps in the Orange Bowl semifinal. He followed that with 5.0 tackles for a loss and three sacks against Alabama in the championship game.
Dodd took advantage of that success and declared for the NFL draft. He was selected in the 2nd round by the Tennessee Titans.
Titans go defense, draft Clemson’s Kevin Dodd https://t.co/iQU0tUejkZ pic.twitter.com/OoG9ZfYgtA
— Clemson Sports (@ClemsonSports) April 30, 2016