BOZEMAN — Keaton and Nicola Gillogly have quickly become part of the culture behind the Montana State Bobcats.
Keaton is the play-by-play voice of the football and men's basketball teams. Nicola took over as the MSU spirit squad coach this year.
But their story starts 10 years ago in central California. Keaton was the newly hired voice of the Modesto Nuts, the Single-A baseball affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, and Nicola was the team’s brand manager.
"In 2014, we met for the first time when I first arrived there," Keaton recalled. "Which was just getting introduced around the stadium to everybody. We met for the first time in the (merchandise) shop while she was tagging things, and I was just shaking everybody’s hands. It kind of just blossomed from there pretty quickly."
"My first thought when I saw her in there was, don’t hit on your coworkers," he added with a laugh.
"I had a long commute, it was like an hour and a half," Nicola explained. "He would just keep me company by just talking on the phone while I was driving back and forth, and that’s really how we got to know each other — a good old-fashioned way with a phone call."
Both had the demands of busy baseball schedules, and Keaton would have to make the drive from Michigan to California, and back, multiple times a year to fulfill his play-by-play work he had in both states.
"I had done a lot of cross country drives. I was able to make it fun for my friends to kind of follow along with a hashtag or moniker from some of my friends, where it was either K.G.E or K.G.W. — Keaton goes East or Keaton goes West," he said.
"We did try to break up one time," Nicola admitted with a laugh. "The first year, we were like, distance isn’t going to work, or just our perception of distance. But then we realized we’d rather be together even with the distance. Like, our lives were fulfilled more."
Another challenge of the demanding schedules would present itself as Nicola would move up to the major leagues. She took a job with the Oakland Athletics and also embarked on an NFL journey simultaneously with the Raiders, still in Oakland at the time, as a cheerleader.
"One of the few days I had a chance to come over, I got there, and I beat her there," Keaton explained of how he was visiting Nicola one day. "And then she walked in, all tanned out, all glammed out, and was like, 'Oh, I’m going to audition for the Raiders.' And I was like, 'Oh, alright cool. Sounds good.'"
"I didn’t know what to expect, and my number got called," Nicola reflected back on the day she became an NFL cheerleader. "But my first instinct was like, how am I going to fit this into a full-time baseball schedule with a full-time football schedule. And I made it work."
Nicola lived out her dream, cheering and dancing at the highest level, being the face or the personality fans across the world got to meet.
"I’ve cheered at Wembley (Stadium in London), I’ve cheered at Tottenham (Hotspur Stadium in London), I’ve cheered in Mexico City, and to just be in a crowd that large and just to have fans from all over, I’m never going to forget those moments," she said.
Once Nicola decided to hang up her boots, and ultimately leave sports after the pandemic, and take a job in tech, the attention fully turned to Keaton and the next step in his career.
That next step was Bozeman to become the play-by-play voice of the Montana State Bobcats.
Nicola remembered the day Keaton got the call and landed the job.
"I just get the, 'Hey, do you want to move to Bozeman, Montana?'" she said. "And I was like, 'Is it for a job?' And he was like, 'Yeah.' And I was like, 'Yeah.'"
"I’ve just been pining to get to a place where it was a little more settled," Keaton said. "It was a bigger radio network, a bigger audience, a bigger crowd — you know, higher, just higher stakes. Baseball is my first love in terms of sports, but minor league baseball isn’t going to have the same juice as Gold Rush."
For Keaton it’s about the storytelling — capturing a moment, a play, a win or a loss in not just the right way, but the way that resonates with the fans that care enough to tune in.
"Hopefully you’re not thinking of me too much when you’re telling the story," he said. "You’re really just thinking about that story, that player, that individual moment and the why. The why something awesome happened, or the why something terrible happened to your team. And that’s the real key, because anyone can tell the story of a champion, but can you tell the story of the heartbreak? And that’s what you sign up for when you become the voice of a team."
Before they made the big move to Bozeman for Keaton to tell those stories came the big question. The two would get engaged in Disneyland in April of 2022.
Now, with a wedding to plan, and a whole new personnel and culture to learn, the future Gilloglys would have a busy two years in their new home.
The moment that sticks out most to Keaton in his time with the Bobcats thus far is the story of the men's basketball team.
"I think the story of the basketball teams the last two years has been fascinating, even (Danny) Sprinkle's final year here," Keaton said. "The other part was watching (Matt) Logie take over that and pick up the baton."
After another March Madness for Keaton and the Cats in 2024, the attention turned to their wedding, which took place in June with family and friends from all the spots along their journey in attendance.
After an Italian honeymoon, it was time to hit the ground running for the 2024 academic year. Not only does Keaton return to the booth for another year of iconic calls surrounding the blue and gold, but Nicola has returned to the sidelines, channeling her passion for dance in a new way as the Montana State spirit squad coach.
"I have this vast experience from all the high school, college, and my professional (experience) in the NFL," she explained. "I was like, this would be great for the university. I’m here. I would love to be a part of something and not just be the person in the booth or his plus-one to things. I really thought this would be a great opportunity to give back and find my new why, which is to give back."
But, no matter where else their journey takes them, they’re in it together.
"I’ve never been supported so much by someone, and I think regardless of where we are, we’re always going to support each other, and I think we’re always going to do this life together, and that’s just always going to be my favorite memory," Nicola said.
"I think it’s just the goofiness," Keaton said about his favorite part of their relationship. "I can take things too serious sometimes. I can be too serious, so yeah, I’ll take the goofiness."
