"About a month ago, we had been talking for a long time, but about a month and a half ago I reached out to them and let them know about my situation and they were very excited about it but numbers-wise it just wasn't working out," Kirkland Jr. explained. "But, after a couple of weeks went by and they figured some things out they are excited about me and want me to be a Vol."
"Coach Jones has done a great jobs of recruiting me throughout the whole process. The staff is one of my best relationships I've had throughout this process as well," Kirkland said. "I'm just excited to get back down there to Knoxville and enjoy the visit with my family. Right now they are definitely a school that I'm really considering moving forward."
"It's really just coach Jones," Kirkland said on what he really likes about the Vols. "He's been a guy that has been recruiting me since last December when they offered me and he's been a guy that I've built a great relationship with through this whole process along with coach (Tommy) Thigpen, coach (Steve) Strpling and coach (John) Jancek. They've all been very personal with me and my family and they are just great guys to be around.
"I visited twice throughout the process and I loved it both times so I'm just excited to get down there and experience my first football game at Tennessee. I think I'll really enjoy it.