Interview: High School All-American LB Nick Galatis now a top rated national JUCO recruit

No matter how dominating a football player your local high school stud was or currently is chances are he was nowhere near as prolific as San Diego’s Nick Galatis. During Galatis’ junior year at Clairemont High School he registered a jaw dropping 189 tackles. Proving he was not a one-year wonder during his senior season he put 235 hats in the dirt.

After Galatis put together a junior season that ended with First-Team All-State, First-Team All-City, and First-Team All-Defense honors and a senior season that including all the same mantle piling awards, he tacked on All-American honors. When the 6’1”, the now 235 pound, bona fide star ended a statistical storybook high school career things took a dramatic turn upending a promising collegiate career. But now, as the proverbial Phoenix rises from the ashes, Galatis’ college career is back on track at Grossmont Community College in El Cajon, California.

In a Recruiting News Guru exclusive interview San Diego’s all-time high school career tackle holder talks about fighting through a series of injuries, finding his way through the junior college system, and reestablishing his game as one of the nation’s top rated JUCO players in the 2016 recruiting class.

 

Nick, first thing first, really? 235 tackles during your senior year?

“(laughing) Yeah, I had a great season.”

I’d be afraid to pick up a Nerf football in the front yard with you around.

(Laughs)

Let’s go over your high school career. The statistical numbers are amazing, breakdown your senior year for us.

“It was a tough year. We only had two seniors, myself and the quarterback. We ended with a 1-9 record under a new coaching staff with the rest of the team basically being full of sophomores. We were a Division-3 school playing a bunch of Division-1 schools. We had a good group of core players but we just never gelled on the field. We had a lot of dropped passes and miscommunication. A lot of guys were not out there to play, just out there to be on the team.

“It was a struggle. I tried to stay calm and not get mad at everyone. After having a great junior season the college coaches are looking at you like what are you doing? Why are you losing?

“A couple of games into the season it seemed like everybody was done playing. If I wasn’t making the tackle the other team was scoring touchdowns. I think it was the first play of the first game against one of the top teams in San Diego my senior year. They scored an 85-yard touchdown. That kind of set the tone and got me thinking, if I do anything this year I’m going to show the coaches what the game means to me with my heart and my effort.

“We started out with a record of 0-5 and then 1-6. I challenged myself week by week to get more tackles. University City had moved back into our division. It was a night game. We ended up losing (27-13) but I had 39 tackles and broke the record for single tackles in a game. I ended up with the most tackles in San Diego for a four-year player.”

How many career tackles did you have?

“I had 976 total tackles for my career.”

You have all of these amazing stats and numbers, what was recruiting like for you?

“Coming out of my senior year I was down to SDSU (San Diego State) and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. I was going to go to Cal Poly but I had a broken ankle and some family problems. I wanted to help my family first. I thought family first. I wanted to get everything settled down with my family. I was afraid I would not be able to give football my all thinking about home.

“I started rehab on my broken ankle. I started training again. Everyone was unsure about how I would look. I was rehabbing in 2011. In 2012 while training, I was running in the sand and I stepped in a pothole and broke my ankle in half. Now I’m stressing out. I didn’t want to go to a JC. I had that in my head as a 19-year-old kid. But I wanted to play.

“In 2013 Wagner starts showing interest and Rhode Island. They wanted to see me play. I go down to Southwestern (JUCO). I’m a top recruit but I’m not starting. They recruited another guy and started him. Towards the end of the year I’m getting 18, 19, 20 tackles and end up with 12.5 sacks. Towards the end of the year I finally got a start.

“Other coaches told me to get out of there. After a lot of thinking and praying I left. It was hard. Henderson State (Arkansas) offered me, they are a D-II school on the rise. I loved it. I was so close to signing but something in me told me to wait and be patient. Instead I transferred over to Grossmont. Recruiting started picking up big time.

“Over the spring I break my nose and my eye socket. I’m 20, 21 now. I’m not too worried. I go to the doctors and they told me I was going to miss the first three weeks of the season because it’s not healing properly. They had to re-brake my nose. I was losing my sense of smell and my allergies were all messed up. Then the docs came back telling me they can’t clear me until Week 7. I’m not going to use my sophomore year on three games. College coaches were not going to see anything. I have some good friends who play in the NFL. I talked to them and decided to get a medical redshirt. My goal was to get bigger and get faster. Schools want to see you at your best. It was a hard time for me but now I am trying to get that D-I scholarship offer.”

Wow, that’s a lot to go through. But now you are considered one of the top junior college linebackers in the nation. How is that going for you?

“I’m ranked as a Top 25 JUCO player and a top JUCO linebacker. USC, UCLA, Cal, Washington State, and SDSU are showing interest. FSU and Oregon have picked up recruiting interest and Central Arkansas and Rhode Island. All these teams are coming around. I’ve been healthy now for almost a year. I’m going strong and my workouts are great as well as my classroom work. Everything is finally picking up from 2011. Everything is finally coming together. Everything is coming up nice, finally!

“I’m going to work my ass off for whatever program believes in me in the classroom and on the field.”

What will influence your final decision on where you will play your college ball? Your options right now are varied from top D-I to top D-II.

“I’m going to go where I feel like I am at home. I want to go where I’m not afraid to ask a question. I want to hear from all schools. To me it does not matter if it’s a D-I or D-II school. If you can play the league will find you.”

Grossmont has a lot of talent getting a lot of recruiting attention. How do the Griffins look going into next season?

“Right now we are looking really good. I think we can be ranked. We should have one of the top defenses in Cali. I think we have 10 starters returning on defense and eight on offense. A couple of guys from Southwestern came over. We have about 14-20 D-I guys, Pac-12 to D-I AA. We are looking like one of the top JUCO teams in the nation. Eight of us are ranked as top JUCO players in the nation. We’re putting Grossmont back on the map.”

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We’ve talked a lot about what has happened off the field. Let’s talk about your play on the field. What makes you a great linebacker?

“I pretty much consider myself good at everything. I love stopping the run. I played Mike, Sam, and Rover all at Southwestern. My biggest strength I’m a huge run stopper. I can recognize plays faster than anyone. I know the play before the QB snaps the ball. I’m big on watching film. I can get sideline to sideline. I’ve been working on my hips and footwork. I can stop the run and drop in coverage.

“If I have a weakness, I have too high of a motor. Sometimes I’m all over the place. I like coming off the edge, if they throw a screen behind me I feel like I should be able to stop on a dime and still make the play. I’ve been told all of that as well by a lot of the coaches. My dad played at Arizona State (Kevin Galatis). He’s taught me well.”

What are your goals for the 2015 football season?

“I set my goals high. I want to be the No. 1 JUCO linebacker in the nation. I want to be an All-American. I want to lead California and the nation in tackles. I want to go 10-0 and bring a title to Grossmont. I want to get the most out of the season. I want to show universities what I got and then get on out.”

What do you like best about playing football?

“Honestly, I like how the team comes together and how we take the field as a unit. I love the atmosphere and the environment of a game. I love going out there and taking my energy helping getting everyone fired up. I’m a teammate kind of guy. I like leading and having fun. I like flying around without getting in trouble.”

 

If Nick has nothing else, he certainly has heart and determination. A standout 2015 season without any injuries could be the catapult into a starting linebacker spot for a Power 5 Conference team. Even a middle of the road season, by his standards, could end up with offers to outstanding D-II programs. All the way around a win-win for both Galatis and whichever school receives his LOI on National Signing Day.

* All stats provided by Nick Galatis.

 

Written by Ryan Wright

Photo credit: twitter.com; Nick Galatis works at linebacker in practice

Photo credit: theswcsun.com; No. 52 Nick Galatis