AMHERST — He has nothing left to prove.
The West Seneca native comes from humble beginnings. His college football career started with him as a walk-on at the University at Buffalo.
Fast forward five years, he’s the programs first-ever consensus All-American — an honor not even Khalil Mack attained.
Still, he wasn’t invited to the Senior Bowl, Shrine Bowl, or NFL Combine. Dolac was the only All-American to enter the draft and not receive an invitation to the NFL scouting combine.
It doesn’t bother him.
“I’ve been through a lot of adversity, and that was just another bump in the road,” Dolac said. “It’s crazy just to think about the journey that I’ve been on and the career I’ve had, but I’ve worked so hard for this, and I’m not shocked by any result that I’ve got today. So I’m just happy and grateful.”
Dolac showed out at the UB Pro Day, which featured approximately five scouts from the CFL and at least 10 from the NFL. He showed off his explosiveness and fluidity as a linebacker, and maintained his composure to finish the drills efficiently after a couple of missteps.
He was measured at 6-foot-1, 225-pounds, and ran an unofficial 4.55 in the 40-yard dash with a 35 ½-inch vertical and benched 225 pounds 25 times. These marks are almost identical to Buffalo Bills’ current lineback Matt Milano, who plays similarly to Dolac.
At Milano’s Pro Day, he was measured at 6-foot, 223-pounds with a 4.67 40 and a 35-inch vertical on top of 24 reps on the bench. While he still had one more year left of NCAA eligibility, he believed now was the time to make his ambitions, reality.
“It just felt right, and this is what I want to do. (I was) dreaming as a little kid trying to do everything right and make it to the NFL,” Dolac said. “And I felt that this year put me in a good spot, and there was nothing left for me to prove on the field. And then you saw today, there’s nothing really left for me to prove at all.”
He led the nation in solo tackles in 2022 and total tackles in 2024 with 168, good for a school record. Dolac added 18.5 tackles for loss this season in addition to 6 ½ sacks, five interceptions and five pass breakups.
Dolac had a season-high 19 tackles against Northern Illinois University and 1.5 sacks versus Kent State.
He was the Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Year and earned first-team All-MAC honors, and is one of two Bulls to have two interceptions in the same game. Dolac had two interceptions, including a pick six, a sack, nine tackles and two tackles for loss against Eastern Michigan on Nov. 20, 2024.
Yet, the word in the NFL was that he didn’t have the “pop” and that he would run a 4.7 in the 40. Dolac has been training for the last two years with Proformance Sports owner Jon Opfer, who has 26 years under his belt in strength and conditioning, and has already helped 22 athletes to get an opportunity to play in the NFL, including Lockport’s David Fluellen.
“I think he proved today that he belongs in that category,” Opfer said. “The outcry (and) the outpouring feedback from all the scouts was that they were surprised that the athleticism matched the production, and it showed today.”
Opfer and Dolac have trained five to six days a week for the last 10 weeks to prepare Dolac for Pro Day. They focused on body control and power and making sure what happens at his feet is expressed through his hips, meaning not only to push his power forward, but also up. The pair also wanted to make sure he had a solid start and drive phase, considering how crucial the first 10 yards are in the 40.
Not only was the improvement shown in his running, but his broad jump and vertical as well, something teams took note of as Dolac had the opportunity to talk to a little more than half of the scouts that were present.
According to Opfer, Dolac thrives on being an underdog in a way he’s never seen before. He noted how Dolac seemed to love when the pressure was on him, and how he tangibly takes negative feedback as fuel to the fire and quickly makes the adjustments.
He plans to go to the Bills Pro Day, and he and his agent are working on top 30 visits.
“The sky’s the limit. And just for any Buffalo kid, or anybody who comes from New York, I want to show you guys that you can do it, and just be an inspiration to them. It’s bigger than myself,” Dolac said. “Anything you put your mind to, you can get. There’s gonna be people who always doubt you, who say you’re not good enough, you’re not fast enough, you’re not strong enough. But when the time comes to show what’s up, you just got to perform.”