It wasn’t a packed stadium, with 75,000 howling fans. A very discerning audience numbering a few dozen gathered at the University of Buffalo’s practice facility, and each of the 30 throws Jacob Dolegala made in 15 minutes on March 13 had the potential to be life-changing.
Based on the buzz generated since, he aced it.
“The sidelines were filled, lined with scouts,” Dolegala said, “and all eyes were on you. So the pressure is there, but I like that spotlight and I’m ready for it. I’m just telling to myself, ‘You’re going to make every throw and you’re going to wow these scouts and turn some heads today.’ … I went out there and I did that.”
No one lasts at the quarterback position without unshakable belief in his ability, and Dolegala, who measured 6-foot-6 1/2 and 240 pounds and ran the 40-yard dash in 4.91 seconds, has the physical tools to substantiate it — a package of talent that could get him from Central Connecticut, where he set school records for passing yards and touchdowns, to the NFL.
“Jacob Dolegala impressed so much, some think he worked his way into an early Day 3 pick,” tweeted Gil Brandt, the legendary talent assessor, on March 18. “A labrum shoulder tear in HS threw off recruiters. Now he’s on NFL radars.”
Indeed, Dolegala’s designs were derailed early in his senior year at St. Francis High, near Buffalo, when he lunged for a tackle following an interception and tore up his shoulder. It was four months before he could throw a football 10 yards, and a year before he could make what he calls “a big-boy throw,” an 18-yard deep out pattern across the field. By that time he was playing at Milford Academy in New Berlin, N.Y., trying to get recruiters to notice he was healthy again.
“From being a Division I scholarship guy to being overlooked by D-III schools, it was devastating,” Dolegala said, “but I didn’t let that stop me. Central gave me a chance.”
Ryan McCarthy, then offensive coordinator, now interim head coach at CCSU, pushed to get Dolegala’s big arm to New Britain, where he got invaluable playing time, playing 44 games, completing 57.6 percent of his passes for 8,129 yards and 48 TDs.
“Coach [Pete] Rossomando and Coach McCarthy, I couldn’t ask for two better coaches,” Dolegala said. “Coach McCarthy molded me into the player I am today, taught me so much on how to approach the film room, the weight room, he was everything I ever needed in college as a coach.”
And he learned about accountability. After leading the Blue Devils to the FCS playoffs in November 2017, Dolegala hosted a celebration at his place near campus. It got out of hand, police were called, and Rossomando suspended him for the playoff game, which Central lost to New Hampshire. That’s the kind of thing that comes up when NFL scouts are doing their homework, but Dolegala owns it, and delivers the right answer.
“It happened,” he said. “If I could go back and do it again, I would not. I learned from it, and I’m a better man because of it.”
So a stellar senior season put Dolegala back on track. There were scouts at every practice, and it sharpened him. “Having NFL eyes watch you make every throw is going to put a little more pressure,” he said, “but it intensified practice and prepared me more for game days.”
He graduated in December with his degree in biology and went home to the Buffalo area to work with Jim Kubiak, a former Navy and NFL quarterback, who helped script his workout for scouts. UB’s pro day was a showcase for its quarterback, Tyree Jackson, Dolegala grateful for the invitation. He returned to Central on March 21 for his own day, with scouts from the Giants, Eagles and Browns watching. Dolegala made 45 to 50 throws.
“My footwork, they liked,” Dolegala said “My arm strength, they were really impressed with. As far as my knowledge, they only touched on bits and pieces of things, but they were impressed with that, too. Until they can get me into their facilities, they won’t really know the full extent.”
That’s next — a series of workouts for individual teams, including the Giants and Jets this week, who could consider taking Dolegala in the later rounds of the Draft, April 25-27, or signing him immediately after the seventh round.
So it’s becoming more real by the day, but for Dolegala, the pro football dream has always been close enough to hug. His grandfather, Al Bemiller, 80, played on Syracuse’s national championship team in 1959 and went on to play center and guard for the Buffalo Bills from 1961-69, snapping the ball to Jack Kemp and Daryle Lamonica, blocking for rookie O.J. Simpson, playing against Joe Namath, Len Dawson, George Blanda. Today, he carries the effects.
“He remembers everything from back in the day,” Dolegala said. “His dementia from CTE is starting to set in, but the stories he has are unbelievable and he tells them so well. My grandfather is near and dear to my heart. He was such an influence on me growing up, I always had a role model in him, I tried to do everything I could to follow his footsteps. He always told me I had the size for it, and as long as I worked for it there was no reason I couldn’t follow in his footsteps.”
Dolegala studies film of Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Andrew Luck, Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, the current old masters who have proven quarterbacks can come in his size, from any round in the draft, and he knows Flacco (Delaware), Jimmy Garoppolo (Eastern Illinois) and Carson Wentz (North Dakota State) have shown NFL quarterbacks can be found in unlikely places.
“So why not me?” Dolegala asked. “A small-town kid from Hamburg, N.Y., Central. Why not me?”
Dom Amore can be reached at damore@courant.com
