Buie takes on new challenge

Playing for a Tampa Bay area football team is nothing new for former USF defensive end Jarriett Buie, who signed with the Tampa Bay Bucaneers off-season program May 4.

Since then, he’s spent his days in the weight room, watching films and learning what it takes to be a pro.

Buie, who joined the Bucs after impressing at their rookie minicamp, wakes up every morning at 6 to get ready for the day. He shares a hotel room with another Big East rookie hopeful, Rashaad Duncan, a former University of Pittsburgh defensive tackle.

“I give Rashaad a hard time since we are rivals, but we get along well,” Buie said.

After the wakeup call, Buie and his teammates take a bus across the street to the Bucs’ practice facility. A buffet-style breakfast is served before the morning workouts, which begin at 9 a.m. and last until noon.

“They have everything you would ever want to eat,” Buie said. “A lot of it is filled with protein, but I’m big on the Cheerios.”

Buie said the team has spent a lot of time in the weight room and going through drills in preparation for training camp, which begins July 25 in Lake Buena Vista.

Hitting the weights is a familiar routine for Buie, as he benched 225 pounds 32 times at the NFL rookie combine in late February.

Much of Buie’s time is spent studying in the team’s film room. He said he hopes to replicate techniques in practice to impress Buccaneers defensive coordinator Jim Bates.

“(Bates) is an old-school coach and a great guy to learn under,” he said. “He is always available and wants to have a personal relationship with all of his players.”

The 6-foot-4, 250-pound Buie started his football career at Seffner’s Armwood High School, just a few miles from USF. He was the second Buie to play for the illustrious
football program, following in the footsteps of his older brother, Chris, who played
linebacker at Virginia Tech for four seasons.

At Armwood, Buie was named Hillsborough County’s Defensive Player of the Year as a senior and helped lead the program to the 4A Florida state title in 2003 under coach Sean Callahan.

Callahan said the structure of the Armwood football program helped Buie’s development as a player and a person.

“He worked very hard and always wanted to help out his family and mother,” Callahan said.