Football

11 ACC Tight Ends Named to Mackey Award Preseason Watch List

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – The Friends of John Mackey have released the 2024 John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List. Given annually to the most outstanding collegiate tight end, the award recipient is selected by vote of the John Mackey Award Selection Committee. Eleven tight ends from the Atlantic Coast Conference were named to the watch list.
 
The watch list honorees from the ACC include:
Gavin Bartholomew, Pitt
Jake Briningstool, Clemson
John Copenhaver, North Carolina
Jack Endries, Cal
Nick Gallo, Virginia Tech
Justin Joly, NC State
RJ Maryland, SMU
Kyle Morlock, Florida State
Bryson Nesbit, North Carolina
Mark Redman, Louisville
Sam Roush, Stanford
 
The John Mackey Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association. Founded in 1997, the NCFAA includes college football’s most prestigious awards and its 24 awards have honored more than 900 recipients dating back to 1935. For more information about the NCFAA and its award programs, visit the NCFAA.org or follow on X at @NCFAA.
 
The eight semifinalists for the Mackey Award will be announced on Tuesday, Oct. 29, while the three finalists will be unveiled on Tuesday, Nov. 26.

The winner will be announced on Thursday, Dec. 12, on The Home Depot College Football Awards on ESPN.
 
ACC Football Notes
  • The ACC is the Conference of Quarterbacks, with the return of full-time starters Thomas Castellanos at Boston College, Cade Klubnik at Clemson, Grayson Loftis at Duke, Haynes King at Georgia Tech, Preston Stone at SMU, and Kyron Drones at Virginia Tech, and transfers DJ Uiagalelei at Florida State, Tyler Shough at Louisville, Cam Ward at Miami, Grayson McCall at NC State, and Kyle McCord at Syracuse among others.
    • ACC had 10 quarterbacks named to the Maxwell Award preseason watch list, no other conference had more.
    • ACC has the top-ranked group of quarterback transfers in 2024 by CBS Sports.
    • 13 QBs in the league enter the 2024 season with over 20 career touchdown passes and 3,500 career passing yards.
    • Eight quarterbacks from ACC schools are projected to start Week 1 in the 2024 NFL season — 25 percent of NFL teams.
    • Since 2018, the ACC has had at least one quarterback drafted in the first round in five different drafts — the only conference to do that.
  • The ACC’s non-conference schedule continues to be the most challenging in the country.
    • 27 games against Power 4 opponents, including Notre Dame, the most of any conference.
    • Nine non-conference games against teams ranked in the final 2023 Associated Press Top 25 Poll, the most of any conference.
    • 10 non-conference games against teams in ESPN’s 2024 Way-Too-Early Top 25, the most of any conference.
  • ACC Features Elite Coaching Leadership
    • Six ACC head coaches were named to the 2024 Dodd Trophy Preseason Watch List, as announced by the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and the Peach Bowl, no other conference had more.
    • Two of the three active coaches to win a national title reside in the ACC - Dabo Swinney led Clemson to national titles in 2016 and 2018. North Carolina’s Mack Brown won a national title at Texas in 2005.
  • The 2024 ACC Football Championship Game will kick off in primetime at 8 p.m. ET on ABC on Saturday, Dec. 7, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.
 
About the NCFAA
Founded in 1997, the National College Football Awards Association includes college football’s most prestigious awards and its 24 awards have honored more than 900 recipients dating back to 1935. For more information about the NCFAA and its award programs, visit NCFAA.org or follow on X at @NCFAA.
 
About the ACC
The Atlantic Coast Conference, in its 72nd year and 18 members strong, stands as one of the most competitive and revered intercollegiate conferences in the nation. ACC members including Boston College, Cal, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Notre Dame, Pitt, SMU, Stanford, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest are dedicated to upholding the league's founding values of academic excellence, athletic competition at the highest level, and integrity. The ACC supports 28 NCAA sports, with 15 for women and 13 for men, and its member institutions span 12 states. In August 2019, the ACC and ESPN partnered to launch ACC Network (ACCN), a 24/7 national network exclusively devoted to ACC sports and original programming. For more information, visit theACC.com and follow the ACC on Instagram (@accsports), Twitter (@theACC) and Facebook (facebook.com/theACC).