When a player is dismissed from a team, speculation circulates on the reasons why the relationship with that team came to an end.

On Feb. 28, Derion Kendrick’s career at Clemson came to a sudden close when he was dismissed from the team by head coach Dabo Swinney. The Tigers’ head man later explained how much he loved Kendrick and that he wished him all the best, but they had to make a change.

Kendrick, who was a starting cornerback for the Tigers the last two seasons, had missed three games during the 2020 season and got off to a rough start to spring practice, as well.

“I want to say that I love DK. He is a young man that I have always loved as a football player. He has a good heart. He has a really good heart,” Swinney said the day after Kendrick’s dismissal. “He has never been a disrespectful young man or anything like that, just sometimes there just needs to be a change.”

Earlier this week, Kendrick was on the podcast On Campus with JB & Sciggy and he explained what happened at Clemson was due to a lack of communications on his part to the Clemson coaching staff.

Kendrick, who has two children, said his son was in the hospital and that is what caused the communication breakdown.

“Family is going to come before anything,” he told JB & Sciggy. “My son had some problems going on, so I was with him. I wasn’t really at school. It was during springtime, so I had a lot going on then.

“I was with him, wasn’t really doing work, couldn’t really do work, because I was always in the hospital. I was going to the hospital back and forth. On my part, I didn’t have too much communication. I was just like, ‘I’ve got to be there.’ So that’s where there was a little misunderstanding.”

Now it appears the former Clemson star is headed to Georgia.

According to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution on Tuesday, Kendrick is expected to sign with the Bulldogs after placing his name in the transfer portal in March.

A former wide receiver at Clemson, too, Kenrick was one of the more versatile players on the Clemson roster. He also returned punts and kickoffs for the Tigers.

Kendrick surprised everyone on Jan. 11 of this year when he announced he was returning to Clemson for his senior year after many people expected he would dart for the NFL.

“The reason I came back to school was to finish, graduate, get my degree and then do whatever I wanted to do after that,” Kendrick said. “It wasn’t really like, ‘Oh, go get the money right now.’ It’s not just about football. I’ve got a three-year-old and a one-year-old, so that’s what I’m really doing this for. And I’ve got a family that’s behind me a hundred percent.”

Last year, Kendrick (6-0, 190) had one interception to go with a team-high six passes defended. He also returned a fumble 66 yards for a touchdown in the Tigers’ win at Virginia Tech to close the regular season.

The Rock Hill, S.C., native finished the year with 17 tackles, including one sack. Kendrick has been a starter in each of the last two seasons for Clemson. He played in nine of the Tigers’ 12 games this past year.

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