Shaun Dolac, a West Seneca native who walked on to the UB Bulls football program in 2020, currently leads the nation in tackles with 77 through week 11. The second-best hasn’t even cracked 70 at the time of publication. The story writes itself, but Dolan isn’t reading it.

“Honestly, it wasn't really a goal for me or kind of what I cared about,” he said. “I kind of always have friends and family being like, 'hey, have you seen this? Did you see that?' and it didn't really pass my mind or anything. At the end of the year, I think I can look back and think OK, maybe I did do something special. But in the moment right now, not really worried about it because right now it's about the team, and our goals are in front of us still so it's about accomplishing those goals and whatnot.”

Buffalo is one win away from becoming bowl eligible, and on the way to that, Dolac will likely break the Bulls’ single season record for solo tackles set by Craig Guest in 1996. This success has garnered national attention for the former two-way star, who is now finalist for the Burlsworth Trophy, given to the most outstanding players that started their career as a walk-on. He got the news on the bus with his teammates.

“My family, kind of, they told me about it, and it was pretty cool, because I saw the movie ‘Greater’ before. I watched it a couple years back, so I mean, I kind of related to that story a little bit,” he said. “So I was like, wow, that'd be cool one day. I finally got the text or call from my brother and he told me about it. I was like, 'oh wow, really?' Like I was shocked and kind of amazed. I told James [Patterson] because we were on the bus to Ohio. I told James and was like, 'they nominated me,' and he was like, 'oh sweet, that's awesome! Nobody can take that away from you!' and I was just like, it was a proud moment for me. It was great. A lot of the hard work that I've done, a little bit of an acknowledgement of it, so it was pretty cool.”

Dolac lost his father John, his dearest football coach, to a battle with cancer in 2016. At the time, Dolac was a student as West Seneca East High School, playing both football and lacrosse. He went on to earn a full ride to play lacrosse at University of Albany, but Shaun decided to pursue what his father wanted for him in football, even though that meant a tougher route — going to a prep school for a year and walking on here at UB. 

“He's always been proud. I think for me being here right now and kind of what I accomplished right now, he'd definitely be proud,” he said. “My family's proud of me and they always tell me that, so it’s a great moment to have and to think about because I know he's coached me, he's always told me, 'whatever happens, just keep moving forward,' just keep pushing on and kind of live by that. Staying humble and just playing my game and always being relentless.”

Today, Dolac is motivated by those he loves most.

“My teammates, my friends, my family,” he said. “I got people counting on me to make that play, trust me to make this play, and it’s just all about being accountable and being dependable as a teammate, as a friend, as a brother, as a sister, as a son. I don't want to let my family down, don't want to let the people who support me down. You know, the ones who believe in me.”