Professional scouts descended upon Thunderbird Stadium on Wednesday as football standouts Quinn van Gylswyk and Terrell Davis worked out for representatives from the Seattle Seahawks, Oakland Raiders, Toronto Argonauts and BC Lions. Van Gylswyk, a Victoria native, garnered scouts attention throughout the past season in which he averaged 43.3 yards per punt and hit 40/49 field goals, including the Vanier Cup winner. Another Victoria native, Davis successfully transitioned from running back to linebacker this past year and went on to lead the team with 89.5 tackles while also contributing 5.5 sacks and two interceptions.
For Davis, the potential of turning pro was something that didn’t appear to be in the cards up until this season. Slotted as a running back for his entire life, Davis was approached by newly appointed head coach Blake Nill about switching positions to the other side of the ball at the start of the season. Nill saw greater potential at the linebacker spot for the gifted athlete. After some adjustments, Davis settled in and soon the attention started pouring in as well.
“At the start of this season, coach Nill came in and changed everyone’s mindset,” said Davis following his workout. “[Nill] switched positions for me and I started playing better and sure enough I was getting attention from CFL and NFL teams. At that point, I realized [turning pro] was a possibility for me.”
One of the scouts impressed by what he saw was former BC Lions legend and current Lion's head of Canadian scouting, Geroy Simon.
“[Davis] is an interesting case because he’s been a running back the majority of his football life,” said Simon. “He’s played a bit of linebacker this year and played very well. He’s versatile and confirmed everything that we knew about him today.”
The pro day workout consisted of a weight room session as well as field drills such as the 40-yard dash and shuttle runs for Davis while van Gylswyk showed off his booming leg through punting, field goal kicking and simulated kickoffs.
The 6’4 van Gylswyk was named First Team All Canadian following his hugely impressive 2015 season with the ’Birds. The strong legged van Gylswyk hopes to follow in the footsteps of fellow CIS kicking alumnus, Jon Ryan, who currently punts for the Seahawks after a brilliant career at the University of Regina.
“He’s got the leg to kick as a pro,” claimed Simon. “The thing is ... when you have all those talents, it comes down to consistency. It’s just something he’s got to work on. It happens with everybody, but he’s got the leg.”
For both men, the NFL is the ultimate dream. From here, they will both hold their breath and hope for an invite to an NFL mini camp over the course of the summer. Whether they make an NFL or CFL roster or not, even being given the chance to perform for these teams is something to be cherished, especially coming from a program that struggled until Nill's arrival.
“No, definitely not,” Davis said when asked whether he could have imagined that his time at UBC would eventually lead to attention from the NFL.
“I always dreamed of it, but I never thought it would actually come true like it did today. It’s a pretty exciting time for the program.”
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