Former Cherokee star Jeff Gallo named head football coach at Monmouth
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After an all-South Jersey football career at Cherokee High School, Jeff Gallo attended Monmouth University, and a quarter of a century later, remains a major presence on the West Long Branch campus.
In a career that has been filled with accolades as a player in high school and college and as an assistant collegiate coach, Gallo will now be running his own program.
On Friday, Gallo was introduced as the new head football coach at Monmouth, replacing Kevin Callahan, who will transition into a special advisor role within the athletic department.
To demonstrate the stability of the program, Gallo will become only the second head football coach in school history.
In 1992 Callahan was hired to begin the football program at Monmouth. The Hawks would have their debut season the next year in 1993. He coached for 33 seasons. Monmouth ended 9-3 his final season, which included a win over highly touted Villanova.
Callahan (197-151) piloted a program that has gone from a non-scholarship independent to one that competes in the highly competitive Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Coastal Athletic Association. During his time, Monmouth captured seven conference championships and earned three FCS playoff appearances.
Gallo, a 2000 graduate of Cherokee who was a Courier-Post first-team All-South Jersey defensive lineman as a senior, became a first-team all-Northeast Conference offensive lineman and second-team Don Hansen All-American at Monmouth during his final season in 2003. He eventually transitioned into coaching at Monmouth.
“I’m incredibly excited and honored to have this opportunity,” Gallo said in a phone interview with the Courier-Post following Friday’s introductory press conference at Monmouth.
Gallo earned his undergraduate degree at Monmouth in 2005 and his MBA from the school in 2012. Like many youngsters, he wasn’t sure which direction his career would take upon graduation.
“When I was done playing, Monmouth offered me a job, as I was trying to figure out what I would do next,” Gallo said.
His first coaching assignment was as director of football operations in 2005. At that time, no task was too menial to tackle.
“I was cleaning locker rooms for official visits and doing some of the lowest stuff, but I loved it,” he said. “Even starting with that job, you could see you had the chance to have the same impact on others that coaches had on me.”
In 2007, Gallo was named tight ends coach, a position he held until his new promotion. In addition, Gallo was the offensive coordinator for the past six seasons, and he finished his second year as the associate head coach. He was a finalist for FootballScoop.com’s FCS Coordinator of the Year in 2024.
Fondly remembering Cherokee
Before he became a Hawk, Gallo took pride in being a Chief.
“The reason I do this is because I had such a great experience at Cherokee,” Gallo said. “Then when I went to Monmouth, it just continued.”
Gallo has never forgotten his roots. On the biggest day of his professional career when Gallo was told on Thursday that he would become the head coach at Monmouth, he took the time to call a few former assistant Cherokee football coaches with the news before it became public.
Both PJ Mehigan and Brian Glatz, were Cherokee assistant coaches when Gallo starred as a two-way lineman. Each would later become a head coach at Cherokee.
“The fact he reached out to us, goes to show you who he is,” Glatz said. “I couldn’t be prouder of him and am so excited for him.”
Mehigan said there was a reason why Gallo had so much success, first in high school, and then beyond.
“He was bigger and better than anybody else, but he was also such a great teammate to the guys around him,” Mehigan said. “You could tell he was a culture guy and the fact that he is now a head coach is no surprise.”
According to Mehigan, Gallo was the type of player who used his brain as much as his brawn.
“He was always smarter than anybody else on the offensive and defensive line and knew everybody’s job and he also took care of the guys who weren’t as good as he was or had the football IQ that he had,” Mehigan said.
Gallo played for the late John Scott at Cherokee.
“Coach Scott loved him,” Mehigan said.
The feeling was mutual.
“Coach Scott was great and I had so many great coaches at Cherokee who helped me out,” Gallo said.
Now he is looking forward to the next phase in his career.
Gallo, 43, has always prided himself as a person who developed strong relationships. While his job has changed his philosophy won’t.
“I really enjoy the leadership part of it and enjoy the connection and motivating players,” he said. “I enjoy every aspect of coaching and I am really excited to get started.”
Marc Narducci is a freelance reporter for the Courier-Post. He can be reached by email at cpvarsity@gmail.com
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Former Cherokee star Jeff Gallo named head football coach at Monmouth
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