UNC Bears football players prepared well for NFL pro day with scouts in Greeley

Luke Wooten reached a boyhood dream Tuesday afternoon.

The former University of Northern Colorado football player participated in a pro day in front of NFL scouts during a workout on campus in Greeley.

Wooten, a 23-year-old, 5-foot-10 wide receiver, was one of five athletes who ran through a variety of physical tests and position-specific drills in front of scouts from the Denver Broncos and the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Wooten and former Bears teammates tight end Charlie Garrison, placekicker Jacob Willig and punter and placekicker Leo Blumentritt were joined at the lengthy workout by former Chadron State defensive lineman Tanner True from Eaton.

“This is like the ultimate end goal for those who are just so passionate about the game of football and love it so much,” Wooten said. “”Growing up, this is every little boy’s dream. I’ve dreamt of this moment for years. It’s cool to see it all come together.”

Wooten had 15 catches for 141 yards in his only season with the Bears last fall. He’s from Danville, Indiana, near Indianapolis, and he transferred to UNC after four years at Butler University. Wooten recorded 15 repetitions on the 225-pound bench press with a 33.5-inch vertical jump and a 9-foot-5 inch broad jump. He ran 4.70 seconds in the 40-yard dash.

The dream is not yet complete. Now, the players wait to find out how their tests are received by the NFL. The players’ physical measurements, and the results of their tests will be sent out to all 32 NFL teams. The guys could be drafted later this month or taken on later by a team as an undrafted free agent. The NFL Draft is April 23-25 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Garrison, listed at 6-foot-5 and 260 pounds on last fall’s roster, was UNC’s top tight end last fall and has received interest from teams, he and UNC assistant head coach Aaron Fernandez said.

A 24-year-old from suburban New York City, Garrison caught 27 passes last fall for 329 yards and two touchdowns. He had season highs in catches (7) and receiving yards (112) with a touchdown in an overtime loss at South Dakota in early September.

At the pro day, Garrison produced 17 repetitions on the bench press, a 33-inch vertical jump and a 9-foot, 3-inch broad jump. He ran 4.81 seconds in the 40. Garrison has a couple of agents in his corner. They contacted him during the season, he said, adding agents are accessible online

“It’s kind of like being recruited,” he said. “Luckily, I had someone come to me. But, if not, you can find somebody.”

In January, Garrison attended a post-season event for seniors called the College Gridiron Showcase in Fort Worth, Texas. Pro scouts also attend to meet with and evaluate players, and the athletes go through practices and scrimmages. Garrison said he had interviews with teams in Fort Worth, and he called it an awesome experience. One of the teams he talked with was the New Orleans Saints.

Blumentritt is also receiving interest from teams, according to Fernandez. Blumentritt has a big upside. He’s a 6-foot-6, left-footed punter from Germany, and he’s only been punting for about a year. In 12 games last fall, Blumentritt punted 58 times for 2,504 yards for an average of 43.2 yards per game. He kicked off 51 times for 3,242 yards with 39 touchbacks.

The NFL has been expanding its reach internationally, and teams might find it beneficial to have foreign-born players on rosters.

Fernandez, the Bears’ defensive line coach and NFL liaison, arranged the pro day. He called it “a really good day” for the UNC players. Their performances on the field drills were smooth and clean.

As specialists, Willig and Blumentritt spent a lot of the afternoon waiting around for their chance at live action — just as they would during a game. They didn’t participate in the physical tests and drills. Willig and Blumentritt showed their skills late in the day during the position drills.

“It looked like the guys were preparing,” Fernandez said, adding his appreciation for the Broncos’ willingness to come up to Greeley for the afternoon.

Assistant director of college scouting Dave Bratten and player personnel coordinator and scout Roya Burton and Jordan Yates represented Denver. The Jaguars were represented by area scout and Loveland resident David McCloughan, who’s from a family of pro football scouts.

McCloughan played high school football at Loveland High in the 1980s. McCloughan’s father, Kent, moved the family to Loveland after Kent’s playing days in the 1960s with the Oakland Raiders, then of the American Football League.

Kent was a standout two-way college player at the University of Nebraska and a Pro Bowl defensive back in six seasons with the Raiders. He later scouted for the team.

McCloughan’s brother, Scot, also went into pro football scouting after a minor league baseball career. He played college baseball at Wichita State and appeared in the College World Series with the Shockers. Scot rose through the ranks of the NFL, working with the Green Packers and twice with the Seattle Seahawks. He was also the general manager for the San Francisco 49ers and the Washington Commanders.

“We’ve been in it a long time,” McCloughan said.

McCloughan went on to play college football at the University of Colorado in Boulder where he was a defensive back and member of the Buffaloes’ 1990 national championship team.

McCloughan was selected in the third round of the 1991 NFL Draft (69th overall) by the Indianapolis Colts. He played 48 games in the NFL over four seasons with the Colts, Green Bay and Seattle. McCloughan was influenced to go into scouting by his father and has been in it since 1996.

He’s been coming over to UNC since the late 1990s when Joe Glenn was the head coach. As a coach, McCloughan said he looks at the numbers from the players’ tests and drills. He tries to know the athlete a little more as a person during the visit. He also talks with coaches, athletic trainers and strength and conditioning personnel.

“Height, weight, speed, athletic ability, toughness, instincts and care factor,” McCloughan said. “Care factor is big. A lot of guys aren’t good enough to play in the NFL, but they have care factor. It’s getting to know the kids as a person, what their work ethic is and mental and physical toughness.”

McCloughan said players at smaller schools, such as UNC, might be challenged to be drafted. They could get shots as free agents. McCloughan said both Garrison and Wooten caught “everything that was thrown at them.”

The day began inside the Empower Center where all of the players were measured for height, weight, arm length and wingspan. Wooten, Garrison and True performed at the 225-pound bench press and the vertical jump.

As kickers, Willig and Blumentritt didn’t participate in these tests or in others held outside.

Outside, on a colder and windier day than much of the winter and spring, Wooten, True and Garrison went through the 40-yard dash, broad jump, 3-cone drills and the 20 and 60-yard shuttle runs.

Later, all five players went to position-specific drills. Wooten and Garrison caught passes from Bears quarterback Levi Durrell. True worked on tackling dummies at another end of the field. Willig showed his stuff on field goals, extra points and kickoffs. Blumentritt punted and kicked off.

The pro day was watched by current UNC players and coaches. The team will soon be wrapping up off-season workouts, and groups of players worked out while the pro day was in session. Spring practice begins April 7.

Wooten and Garrison both heard positive reactions from their former teammates and coaches around the field when they came down with a good ball from Durrell. Garrison ran a route into the end zone perfectly synced with one of Durrell’s passes. Wooten tracked a ball on the other side of the field hung up in the wind.

Fernandez said all UNC players who used their college eligibility had the option to participate in a pro day. The decision came down to whether the players wanted to pursue the opportunity enough to put in the time, the work and, maybe, the money to chase the dream.

“You have to have the dream to take it to the next level,” Fernandez said.

To prepare for the pro day, Garrison and Wooten worked out together at least four days a week for the last four months — since the end of the 2025 season in late November.

Garrison is finished with school, and his focus has been training since the end of the season. Wooten juggled the pro day training with online graduate classes and part-time work at a speech clinic.

The guys worked out together in the morning, from about 8 a.m. to noon. They’d run and lift. Garrison often came back for another work out in the evening.

Garrison and Wooten researched and planned their own workouts with some advice and assistance from others.

“At the end of the day, it’s a choice to do it ourselves,” Garrison said. “Yes, it comes from the heart.”