Jaheim Buchanon has achieved his goal of leaving football and becoming a starting player at FIU

MIAMI, FL – Mike MacIntyre and the Florida International Panthers kicked off fall camp on Wednesday with an intense practice. One of the biggest questions heading into the season is how the offensive line will shape up, and the center position is one of the most important.

Jaheim Buchanon, a freshman offensive lineman who saw action in three games last year, will compete for the starting center job with veteran center John Bock II out for most of the season.

For Buchanon, it wasn’t all about football, as he decided to leave his athletic career early to focus on basketball.

“I had some communication issues with Coach,” Buchanon said. “As a kid, I didn’t know any better. He’d tell me to play offensive line and I felt like I was a running back. I wanted to stay in my position and he didn’t want that.”

RELATED: All G5 players on the 2024 Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list

After playing for the Orlando Outlaws youth program for three or four years, the Panthers offensive lineman moved to Fort Myers. He returned to football during his high school days and eventually moved to the offensive line, but was a ball boy before joining the team. In seventh grade, Buchanon played on the offensive line.

Although Buchanon now plays center most of the time, he only had one year of experience playing that position in high school.

“When I came in my freshman year, I played right tackle,” Buchanon said. “I started out as a right tackle at Leigh High. The next year I moved to left tackle. I played left tackle for two years and my coach told me I was going to college to be a center, so he moved me to center my senior year and I had a great year at center and the rest is history.”

RELATED: Rich Rodriguez on the NIL outlook: “Players should be under contract”

When it was over, Buchanon had to make a decision among seven offers from four FBS schools, including FIU, and among them was FCS powerhouse Florida A&M. Buchanon stayed close to home with FIU, where he has a chance to become a starter in Week 1.

“I’ll be pretty nervous,” Buchanon said when asked about the possibility of starting in Week 1 against the Indiana Hoosiers. “I’m a redshirt freshman, but I feel like I’ll rise to the occasion. It’s part of the job, it’s what we do. After the first series, we shake off the nerves, we just play football.”

The Panthers will continue their fall training camp as they prepare for Week 1 against the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday, August 31 at 3:30 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network.