Adam Buirge, a 6-foot, 180-pound junior defensive back from Brooklyn Park (MN) Park Center, has already received two scholarship offers and is getting interest from several Division I schools such as Minnesota.
Adam Buirge, a 6-foot, 180-pound junior defensive back from Brooklyn Park (MN) Park Center, has already received two scholarship offers and is getting interest from several Division I schools such as Minnesota.
Buirge is hoping for a big senior season for the Pirates, who have finished 1-8 and 2-7 the past two years. Gopher Hole recently caught up with Buirge to learn the latest on his recruitment, summer plans and expectations.
Gopher Hole: What is the latest on your college recruitment right now?
Adam Buirge: Today, Northern Illinois invited me to a Junior Day. It was the first contact that I have heard from them. Recently, I have been getting some mail from Wisconsin, Cincinnati, Iowa State and a camp invite from Stanford. Those schools I all have spring practice invites and camp invites, too. I went to a Gopher spring practice a couple of weeks ago. That was fun. Some Ivy League stuff. Harvard, Yale and Princeton. Those schools have been contacting me as well.
Gopher Hole: Right now, you have two offers. One from North Dakota and one from South Dakota State, right?
Adam Buirge: Yes.
Gopher Hole: What are you hearing from the Gophers? What are they saying to you right now?
Adam Buirge: They want to see me in summer. Since I am a Minnesota kid, they can see me as many times as they want at camp. Coach Sawvel told me that I am high on his list and he likes what I bring. He just wants me to show out at camp and makes plays my senior year and hopefully an offer will come.
Gopher Hole: What Junior Days did you get a chance to attend so far?
Adam Buirge: I went to the “U,” Minnesota’s Junior Day and South Dakota State’s Junior Day and this Saturday, I am going to Iowa State’s Junior Day and I’ll probably go to Northern Illinois April 11th, I think. I’ll probably go to that because I am going to the Nike camp the 12th in Chicago, so it is right there.
Gopher Hole: You have to be awfully proud that all your hard work has paid off and you are getting these kind of looks.
Adam Buirge: Oh, for sure. It feels really good to have a couple of offers on the table before my senior year, so I don’t have as much stress in recruiting, so I can focus on playing.
Gopher Hole: Have you thought about what camps you are definitely going to attend this summer?
Adam Buirge: I am going to the Nike one in April. Hopefully, I do well in that. As far as school camps go, definitely, the U.” I’ll probably head to Wisconsin, depending on the dates. I’ll try to make two more. I’m not sure which ones I’ll go to yet, but I’ll probably end at about five, depending on the dates and how they work out.
Gopher Hole: What are the expectations for the high school team this year?
Adam Buirge: We don’t have a coach right now. We are in the hiring process. I think that a new face will give the team a new confidence. A new swag, you could say. We also have a lesser schedule this year and I feel like that just makes the kids more excited to come out, knowing that we will be able to compete better with the teams that we are playing. I’m really excited.
Gopher Hole: Has that ever been tough because, to be honest, you have been playing schools that are a lot bigger than Park Center?
Adam Buirge: Yes. They are way bigger than us. We went in shorthanded, but you just have to fight through it, I guess.
Gopher Hole: That might help to get other kids who haven’t played in past interested in joining the team.
Adam Buirge: Oh, yes. I have been in the hall recruiting a couple of big kids that didn’t come out last year that I think I have locked in on playing this year, which will help because our line struggled with the bigger schools that we played, so hopefully that changes this year.
Gopher Hole: Is it a little bit frustrating to not have a coach, especially since you guys want to start working on things for next year?
Adam Buirge: Oh, for sure. Our athletic director, I know, is going to make a great decision and bring in a good guy who will help us win games. I just want a coach, so I know what the plans is. What offense we are going to run? How we are going to do things? Just so I can prepare myself for the season, but I am super excited other than that.
Gopher Hole: Any idea of what positions you are going to play this season? Are you going to try to play both sides of the field?
Adam Buirge: I am definitely going to play some defensive back. Not sure if it is corner or safety at this point, depending on who else can fill the position. Offensively, I can play anywhere from wide receiver, running back or I might play some “Wildcat” quarterback this year, too. It all depends on the coach and what he wants to run, but I’ll be all over the place this year.
Gopher Hole: What all did you play offensively last year?
Adam Buirge: I played a little bit of receiver. I had five touchdowns and led my team in receiving yards and I only had 19 catches, but no quarterback and no running back, but this year hopefully, we put in a little read option or something, to get us a little quicker offense, which should be good.
Gopher Hole: What was it like to have (former Park Center head) Coach Rickey Foggie, who had played at Minnesota and in the Canadian Football League and learn from him?
Adam Buirge: He was great to have around. He always made sure that practice was fun. He was serious, but at the same time, you could joke around with him, which I really liked. I hope things at Red Wing go well. I hope for the best for him. He is a good guy.
Gopher Hole: You ran a 4.47 40-yard dash at the UMD football camp last summer. Is that one of the things you take pride in?
Adam Buirge: For sure. It is one of the attributes that is really important in football, to say the least. Speed kills.
Gopher Hole: What other things do you see as strengths of your game?
Adam Buirge: I feel like defensively, at corner, that I can lock up any receiver that you put in front of me. That is just how I feel. Not trying to be cocky, but I just feel like I have put in the work to make my skills excel. Offensively, I just feel that my speed, quickness and vision in the open field.
Gopher Hole: What things, like any players, are you working on to continue to improve not only for your senior season, but with an eye on playing at the next level?
Adam Buirge: I am being recruiting as a corner mostly, but I feel like some schools are interested in me as a receiver, so on the offensive side of the ball, definitely focusing on improving my route running, just because I had never played receiver before last year. That is a big thing for offense. Defensively, there is not as much, just foot work out the break. Stuff like that and open field tackling isn’t a friend of any player, but I am hoping to work on it.
Gopher Hole: Do you think that playing wide receiver helps you as a defensive back in knowing what a receiver is going to try to do against you as a defensive back?
Adam Buirge: Oh yeah, for sure. Knowing what I would do in a situation, if I was guarded that way, it helps me figure out what they are going to do. I think that it helps me a lot knowing what receivers think when they see certain things on the offensive side of the ball.
Gopher Hole: I know that the Gophers are talking to you about camps and I know that being watching you. What would it mean to get an offer from the home state school?
Adam Buirge: Oh, man. Ever since camp last year, I have been hungry for one. Just from the “U,” because that is the home school. It is a Big Ten school. I love the coaches and I feel like I would fit good in their program and an offer from them would be amazing.
Gopher Hole: Did you get a chance to go to many college games last year?
Adam Buirge: I went to four Gopher games and I went to the Iowa State versus Texas game, which was a really good one.
Gopher Hole: Do you remember which Gopher games you went to?
Adam Buirge: Western Illinois, Penn State, Iowa and San Jose State.