Virginia Tech tight end Nick Gallo named to John Mackey Award Watch List
Virginia Tech tight end Nick Gallo was named to the 2024 John Mackey Award Watch List Friday for the second straight season. The John Mackey Award is given to the most outstanding tight end in college football and Nick Gallo was announced as a nominee.
Gallo last played in 2022 as his 2023 season was cut short due to a knee injury in the preseason against Old Dominion. In the 2022 season, he finished with 30 catches and 256 yards played in 9 games for the Hokies two seasons ago as a sophomore and was the third leading receiver for the team. Tech used Gallo a lot for blocking and has valuable traits needed for your tight end to be successful, he fights for yards when he has the ball and isn't someone who needs the ball in his hands to be effective.
Nick Gallo has also been listed as a potential breakout player this year for the Hokies and head coach Brent Pry had this to say about him after the injury: "I’m gonna tell you now, you talk about your heart aching for somebody who makes the commitment to come back and wants to lead and wants to play and better himself, better the team, and before he even gets to play in the first ball game, he has an injury that ends the season. But he’s been awesome, great family. He’s a leader, he’s mature, he’s very valuable to what we’re doing. When those kinds of things happen, that’s where it’s at. Right? It’s with Nick and what he’s going through and, of course, the loss and we miss him and the impact he has as a starter on our offense and experience and all those things, but more so you feel for him."
Semifinalists for the John Mackey Award will be announced on Oct. 29 with the three finalists being announced on Nov. 26. The winner of the award will be announced at the Home Depot College Football Awards on Dec. 12 on ESPN.
KAHLIL MCCULLER
Kahlil McCuller joined the Sports Illustrated team in summer 2024 and is a Sports Media major at Virginia Tech. Covering College Baseball, College Basketball, and College Football for the Virginia Tech Hokies. Prior to this Kahlil worked pregame radio shows for Virginia Tech Basketball teams on 105.3 The Bear and started his own basketball podcast on Spotify called "Fleeky Hoops Podcast" and covered March Madness for the Hokies Women's Basketball team back in March 2024. My favorite sports teams are: Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Chargers, Virginia Tech Hokies and PSG for Soccer