Shaun Dolac knew NFL evaluators had watched his University at Buffalo game video that included an FBS-high 168 tackles, but he also knew they arrived on campus Thursday morning with two key questions: Could he run fast enough to be a pro linebacker? Was he athletic enough?
Dolac provided emphatic answers at the Bulls’ Pro Day inside the Murchie Family Fieldhouse. Before an audience of 17 NFL and seven Canadian Football League teams, Dolac lifted, jumped and ran well to improve his draft stock.
UB Pro Day (copy)
Former University at Buffalo linebacker Shaun Dolac makes a catch during the Bulls' Pro Day on Thursday. Joshua Bessex, Buffalo News
Dolac ran the 40-yard dash in a consensus hand-timed 4.54 seconds, lifted the 225-pound bar 25 times and posted a broad jump of 10 feet, 1 inch.
“(Teams) saw I could run,” said Dolac, who was a first-team All-America in 2024. “That was a big question for all of them so it was great to prove myself right and prove everybody who believed me in right and prove to the people that don’t really know about me that I’m here and I’m here to stay.”
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Dolac was one of 13 UB players who went through drills and they were joined by 13 players from other programs in Canada and upstate New York.
The Buffalo Bills were represented by area scout Pete Harris, scouting coordinator Jay Hill, scouting assistant Kellyn Gerenstein and offensive quality coach/former UB offensive coordinator D.J. Mangus.
Compared to off-ball linebackers who were invited to the scouting combine last month in Indianapolis, Dolac’s bench-press total ranked third and his broad jump was tied for seventh.
“I’m so proud of him. He showed up in a big, big way,” said John Opher, who has trained Dolac during the pre-draft process.
Dolac needed a good showing because he wasn’t invited to the Senior Bowl or scouting combine despite his production and awards.
“At the end of the day, (not getting invited) doesn’t really matter to me,” he said. “I’ve been through a lot of adversity and that was just another bump in the road.”
Said UB coach Pete Lembo: “Knowing Shaun the way I do, (the snub) was more motivation to come out (Thursday) and show people the combination of his skill set and production on the field makes him a legitimate candidate to end up in somebody’s camp. Hopefully, his stock rises.”
After UB’s season ended with a win in the Bahamas Bowl and Dolac declared for the draft, he and Opher got to work with a focus on exploding out of his stance for the 40-yard dash.
“A lot of it was the hip mobility and hamstring work and we were able to get our start down and fine tune a lot of work,” Dolac said.
Opher said some in the NFL world expected Dolac to run in the 4.75-second range. He blew that time away.
“I’ve been at 22 (UB Pro Days) and we’ve never had a guy have that much of a drastic change (between projection and result),” Opher said.
UB Pro Day (copy)
Shaun Dolac, right, greets his trainer, John Opfer during the UB Pro Day on Thursday at Murchie Family Fieldhouse. Joshua Bessex, Buffalo News
Dolac, who chatted with NFL scouts throughout the Pro Day, will participate in the Bills’ Local Pro Day before the draft, and Lembo said he has heard from a “number of NFL teams in the last few months who have expressed an interest in Shaun.”
Dolac will continue to train in case an NFL team wants to work him out before the draft, but the Pro Day was a significant step for him. If anything, it clinched his status as a priority undrafted free agent.
“I’ve worked so hard for this,” he said. “I’m not shocked by any result (Thursday). Overall, a great day. It was the culmination of all the hard work I’ve done through the years and these past couple weeks with specific drills to prepare for these exercises. It’s just a great feeling.”
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