 His performances helped the Longhorns defense rank first in the Big 12 and 18th nationally in terms of points per game and earned Kindle a 2008 All-American honorable mention by "Sports Illustrated", as well as first-team All-Big 12 honors by the league's coaches, "Austin American-Statesman", "Kansas City Star" and "San Antonio Express-News" and second-team All-Big 12 honors by Associated Press, "Dallas Morning News", "Fort Worth Star-Telegram" and "Waco Tribune-Herald".For the 2009 season, Kindle was moved to the defensive end position, replacing Brian Orakpo who was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the 2009 NFL Draft.He was named to the watch lists for the Nagurski Trophy, Bednarik Award and Hendricks Award.