Tyjuan Garbutt: Path To The NFL Draft

By Lee Wakefield

The NFL is all-consuming. As we continue down the pre-draft process, it’s easy to forget that for the hundreds, if not thousands of prospects hoping to play on Sundays, their life to date has been more than just football. Their time at university will no doubt be memorable for countless other reasons, including the building of relationships, achievement of academic qualifications, or finalising the journey from adolescent to adult. 

TyJuan Garbutt has had a college career that he can rightly be proud of, and stands on the verge of achieving his own NFL dream. But his personal growth along the way has also been a source of satisfaction. The former Virginia Tech edge rusher sits down with Lee Wakefield to discuss his path to the NFL Draft:

TyJuan Garbutt: Champion Of Growth

Tyjuan at Riverbend High School

Growth; the process of increasing size.

This is a word that I will associate with TyJuan Garbutt following my conversation with him. Growth both on the football field, as a person off the field, and maturing to a place where he was willing and able to take lessons from coaches, experiences, and those around him.

TyJuan is a physical specimen now, standing at 6’3 and weighing in at 255lbs with quick-twitch and bend that every NFL team likes to see in their edge defenders. That said, it wasn’t the case that Garbutt was playing back-yard-ball from the day he was born.

“I actually didn’t get into football until late, I started playing in the fifth or sixth grade, and my Uncle playing football kinda inspired me as I wanted to take after him”. 

Once inspired, TyJuan could be found playing football anywhere around his neighbourhood in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Playing with friends and family, who were often older and bigger, anyone he could find… This lead to the initial, physical growth that allowed him to hold his own, no matter who he was up against:

“Even as a younger kid, playing with older kids it was never like they were always overwhelmingly more physical than I was or physically bigger than I was”.

The Best Player On The Team

By the time high school ball was in full swing, TyJuan was, by his own admission, the best player on his team.

“Not to brag but it was kinda like I was far ahead of the pack and you know, we had a couple of other good players but when it came down to it, you could tell that I would be playing football at the next level, at the division I level when you came down and watched our high school.”

An all-conference nomination at both defensive end and wide receiver is testiment to this statement not coming from a place of hyperbole or over-confidence.

Sure enough, Garbutt was highly recruited, a four-star prospect out of River Bend High School in Fredericksburg. With offers aplenty from the likes of Pitt, Virginia, Penn State, Wake Forest, a number of SEC schools such as Tennessee and Georgia, and of course Virginia Tech, a big decision lay ahead.

Quite the rise for a guy who got into football quite late – and for whom basketball was actually the first sport that intrigued him as a youngster.

TyJuan gives credit for this to his first coaches as a young boy, for not only teaching him the game of football but also instilling in him the passion and intensity that it takes to be a high-level football player.

Once his first coaches gave TyJuan that fire, that determination to succeed, a plan was formed of how he would go from the kid who played park and recs football to being a college football athlete with NFL aspirations.

A plan and a commitment towards growing into the player he knew he could be. Commitment to learning the game, studying and being single minded.

“Even as a 15-year-old boy, I knew the ins and outs of the game that I don’t think a lot of people understand at that age – and quite frankly, being in college for five years, a lot of people don’t understand still”.

Garbutt wants to be taught, to be coached, to be that sponge. He recognises that football is a complex game and there’s no finish line when it comes to learning the finer nuances of it. This is going to be a personality trait which will be a huge positive in his scouting reports from NFL front office and coaching staffs when they meet with him throughout the draft process.

Giving Credit To Coaches

Garbutt gives credit to coaches wherever he can. He speaks about those who have invested time in him with great warmth and he hopes that he can use their teachings to maximum benefit.

We spoke about a number of coaches from Garbutt’s past and it was always the same glowing terms in which they were spoken about – even when it comes to coaches who may not be perceived to be the most popular on the outside, such as former Virginia Tech Head Coach, Justin Fuente.

“He (Fuente) gets a bad wrap and a lot of hate from his time there (at Virginia Tech) but he means the world to me… There was a lot of adversity I had throughout my time and he just continued to stick by me. He continued to believe that I could become the player that I ended up becoming. Outside of coaching, he’s just a guy who I could say that I really felt the love from.”

There is a maturity with which Garbutt speaks about coaching, a great amount of gratitude and also empathy for what they are trying to achieve.

He knows that they are all trying to pull in the same direction, to work towards the same goal and it takes coaching. Lessons have to be learned, players have to be willing to take on information, take critiques – not believe that they’ve “arrived anywhere, unless you’re a LeBron figure in your respective sport” in his words.

Coaching clearly matters to Garbutt, and despite some tough lessons he knows that it is a labour of love, and something that needs to be accepted in order to be the best player that he can be.

The coach that Garbutt speaks about most glowingly though, is his former defensive line coach, JC Price.

Price is the coach whom Garbutt credits with helping him find his consistency on a game-to-game, and even a down-to-down basis.

He was also the leader of the Yard Dogs.

JC Price saw the potential in Garbutt. He would see him make a big play but then after, go through a barren spell where he would go quiet in a game. Or conversely, he would see a bad play that would affect Garbutt for a little while after. Price knew this rollercoaster had to be flattened out. The potential was there but the flashes and mental lapses would come too close together.

It wasn’t just on the field either, Price was often in Garbutt’s ear reminding him to be a leader, that younger members of the programme looked up to him, that he needed to be consistent with habits off the field and in his routine. Even if Garbutt wasn’t always aware that this was the case or notice that his peers would follow his lead, it was important to be mindful that he was being relied on.

All of these little things were important; the reminders, the coaching, being consistent and being there for one another, and sure enough they all added up and Garbut’s level of play grew.

Without much warning, I asked Tyjuan what it was to be a Yard Dog, which immediately gave him a laugh and a wide smile;

“A Yard Dog… it means being able to be rugged, being able to be intense and also being able to be poised. House dogs, they’re different to yard dogs… House dogs, they stay inside, they’re in the AC all the time, they can bark but there’s never really a bite. If you are in a house and you’ve never met the dog it might bark, but then you approach and it’ll scurry away. You know how these dogs are, they’ll kinda bow down, in a way. Compare this to that dog that you see in the yard… You see his water bowl out there, his food bowl out there – The fence has to be like eleven feet tall because you don’t want him, you’re afraid of what he can possibly do. THAT’s a yard dog.”

It’s fair to say that Garbutt and the rest of the Hokie defensive line considered themselves to be the latter – and it’s with heavy thanks to Price for ingraining that mentality in his unit. Nice guys off the field, but when it comes to football they were all willing to run through walls and their opponents to earn the win. Great pride was taken by all when everything came together and results went their way.

Becoming A Hokie

Despite a plethora of offers from the length and breadth of the land, Garbutt travelled only around 220 miles from his hometown to attend university, staying in state and becoming a Hokie. It seemed like it was the legendary Bud Foster who sealed the deal;

“It was quite an easy decision, when I first got up there, I just fell in love with it. The secret was that we had this really good defensive coordinator, who’s an all-time great. He was my primary recruiter in my area and I think I was just mesmerised by not only the guys that he was putting in the league – The likes of Kam Chancellor, DeAngelo Hall… you can just go down the list. But it was also the fact that he was intrigued with me as a 15-year-old boy”. 

When decision time came around it was down to Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech for Garbutt. Pittsburgh was the first school that made an offer to him. An amazing milestone in any young, aspiring football player’s lifetime, one that meant a lot to Garbutt but once again, it was that connection to people, and in particular coaches which sealed the deal.

Garbutt cherishes the people who are willing to invest and give him opportunities, to show complete interest and make him feel wanted.

For anything to grow it needs love and attention. Very little that is worthwhile just grows on its own without it – sometimes those natural ingredients come together, but with both love and attention, as well as commitment and collaboration, things can really flourish.

Thanks For The Memories

As time went on throughout Garbutt’s Hokie career things really did flourish and grow, too.

Season on season, Garbutt was affecting the game more and more, posting up splash plays on a more frequent and regular basis – peaking in his final year when he posted 12 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles in 9 games.

All of these numbers were new career highs or equal to career high totals, but best of all Garbutt thinks these numbers are only just scratching the surface of his potential.

Garbutt believes that he has the ability to get better; he already has the quickness and versatility to cause offensive linemen problems, as evidenced in college. He’s also a keen student of the game too, something that has stayed with him since his early days.

Garbutt will remember his time at Tech fondly, no more so than coming out of the locker room and on to the field to the sound of Metallica’s Enter Sandman. College Football is known for its traditions and pageantry, of which the Hokie’s entrance music is one of the very best elements of.

Garbutt says that he will never forget the noise of 66,000 people going crazy, I had to ask him about what it feels like to be right at the centre of the craziness and he said it still gives him goosebumps to think about it, despite being sat in Tampa Bay, Florida, preparing for the NFL Draft.

“Honestly, it’s crazy because I still think about it, I still think about some of the big wins we had in that stadium – Even if a player isn’t focused at that time, or locked in, when you hear that music and 60, 70 thousand people jumping over the top of your head, it’s like, it’s time to lock in, whether you’re locked in or not, whether you did your preparation or not, you’re focused or not, you need to be because it’s about to get real.”

Any college football fan who has watched this entrance, whether on a game or a YouTube clip, can see exactly what is meant here. How could you not be pumped for a game after hearing and being a part of that?

“It’s probably one of the best things I’ve ever experienced in all of sports. As a recruit it’s one of the pitches that definitely helped bring me in, but as a player it’s way different, its ten times better, because you think it’s you, all 60 of y’all (the VT team) and all 60 thousand of them, going against the 60 of them on the other team. I’m getting chills just thinking about it now.” 

And like every college football fan, Garbutt wants to head to a Tech game as a fan to experience it from the stands.

Preparing For The Draft

Garbutt knows he has an edge when it comes to the mental side of the game, and how he can see the game both on field and in his preparations throughout the week.

It was clear to see from my conversations with him that he was prepared to impress teams if they ask him to get on the whiteboard at anytime.

We spoke about his pass rush plan, how he likes to read tackles’ stance and how “football is a numbers game, especially if we’re blitzing”. He knows that the offensive line has to know their assignments and he would always back himself to be on task and know how to bamboozle a quarterback or lineman, even in the heat of battle.

Now though, the college film is what it is. The potential is there and he’s going through his draft prep in Florida with all eyes on his pro day and once more, pushing forward and unlocking further levels in his game.

Garbutt is focused on hitting benchmarks and pushing for new ones – growth personified. Working hard since December as Virginia Tech’s season was cut short, in his own words, he’s “griding hard to make the best version of me. I’ve graduated, it’s all football now. There’s no school, now it’s literally football is the job and I’m enjoying it.”

Like everything he mentions and talks through, there’s a grounded tone and maturity, those coaches’ words still ringing in his ears, no doubt.

“It’s a blessing but I need to look good moving, run a fast 40, hit 25-28 on the bench and working on pass rush moves, both new but also working on moves that I was already pretty good with”. 

Garbutt is well into the meat and potatoes of the draft season, and he’s already had contact with a number of teams -with more to come. The process ticks on and the draft grows ever closer, hard work continues and it’ll probably never stop for someone like TyJuan. Basketball may have been the first sport that intrigued him, but football is life now. And he’ll have a future in the game for a long time to come, in one form or another.

LEE WAKEFIELD

GUEST WRITER

LEE WAKEFIELD HAS COVERED THE NFL AND COLLEGE FOOTBALL FOR A NUMBER OF PUBLICATIONS, INCLUDING FULL 10 YARDS & FIRST AND 10. CHARGERS SUFFERER. PASS RUSH ENJOYER. CURRENTLY A CONTRIBUTOR FOR WITH THE FIRST PICK.

5/5

A huge thank you to TyJuan for taking the time to talk to us. Everyone at The Touchdown wishes him well in his future career.