Kirkpatrick attended Robert E. Lee High School in Tyler, Texas, where he started to play football in his senior season, and earned second-team all-district honors at offensive guard.

Considered only a two-star recruit by Rivals.com,[1] Kirkpatrick was not ranked among the nation's top interior linemen prospects in 2006.

Kirkpatrick was named a finalist for the 2009 Dave Rimington Trophy, awarded annually to college football's best center, and also received All-American honors by Sports Illustrated.

[4] Despite having a stellar career at TCU and being projected a sixth to seventh round pick,[5] Kirkpatrick was not selected in the 2011 NFL draft, which saw only three centers being selected—Stefen Wisniewski, Jason Kelce, and Brandon Fusco.

3 center on the depth chart behind Jeff Saturday and Mike Pollak, he did not see action during the 2011 NFL season.