By Will Vndervort.

Kevin Dodd has waited four years for his shot and finally he gets his turn.

After the former Riverside (Greenville, S.C.) High School standout signed with Clemson in February of 2011, he was placed at Hargrave Military Academy after he failed to qualify for school. By 2012 though, he was in Tigertown as he enrolled in January so he could participate in spring drills.

The 2012 season went by fine as Dodd played in eight games as a reserve defensive end during his freshman year. It wasn’t great but it was a start.

The 2013 season ushered in more competition for playing time with the addition of Shaq Lawson, Vic Beasley’s emergence as a potential superstar and Tavaris Barnes move back to the outside. Dodd got in four games, again in mop up duty, but he sustained a season-ending injury against Wake Forest, forcing him to take a medical redshirt.

While he sat out the rest of the 2013 season, Beasley became the best pass rushing defensive end in college football, while Lawson became a budding star, Corey Crawford started at the other end and Barnes became a key reserve.

Earning playing time was not going to be easy for Dodd when he came back, and it wasn’t. The 6-foot-5, 275-pound defensive end played in 12 of the Tigers’ 13 games last year, but it came in just 92 snaps and mostly in mop up duty. He finished the year with eight tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and three quarterback pressures.

But with Beasley and Crawford now graduated, Dodd, along with Ebenezer Ogundeko, Martin Aiken and freshman Albert Huggins are trying to fill in the void. For Dodd, after three frustrating seasons is finally getting his shot.

“I’m just out there learning and trying to get better,” he said.

So far he is doing just that. Defensive coordinator Brent Venables and head coach Dabo Swinney have both mentioned Dodd after post practice sessions this spring as guys that are continuing to perform well.

“I have not made a name yet or have done anything, but I’m very confident and trust in my ability,” Dodd said. “I trust in the coaches and the plan they have prepared for me. I’m just ready to go out there and take a stand.”

Dodd is hoping he and the rest of the Tigers’ new defensive line can go out this year and play with the same standards as those before them.

“I feel like we are pretty good,” he said. “We lost some great players, but we have some great players coming behind them. I trust in the coaches and Coach Venables, he has a great plan. We just have to go do what it takes.”