–by Steven Bieber
PUBLICATION DATE: Oct 13, 2020

Brady Lichtenberg, a Sylvania native and a senior year quarterback at St. John’s Jesuit high school, recently made a commitment to play for the University of Cincinnati. Football started early for Lichtenberg. He started playing flag football at the YMCA when he was in pre-school and he started playing tackle football in second grade.
Lichtenberg received offers from Akron University, Bowling Green State University, Kent State University, Ohio University, University of Pennsylvania, and The University of Toledo. After reviewing all the offers, he ultimately chose Cincinnati.
“Out of all those schools Cincinnati just felt like the most at home, even though it is three hours away. I just wanted to go on my own for a little bit, get away from home but at the same time be close enough that I can drive back home if there is a family thing or just come back for the weekend. Also, I just fell in love with the campus and coaching staff. I think all those things put together just made a really good situation.”

Moving to the city of Cincinnati and playing at a large university will bring new challenges and Lichtenberg shared what he is expecting.
“There is definitely going to be a lot of challenges and bumps in the road, some of the bigger ones are just being away from my family and starting to live on my own. With football, the competition is going to be a lot higher in practices with all my teammates. But, that’s what football is all about, it’s about competition. I love that part about football so I’m looking forward to it. I think it should be fun, but there’s going to be some difficulties for sure.”
Cincinnatti quarterback coach Gino Guidugli played a role in recruiting Lichtenberg to the Bearcats. Lichtenberg explained how Guidugli drew him in.
“The first time that he saw me throw, they offered, and I think that said a lot about how they felt about me as a player and then as the relationship grew we got to know each other on a more personal note. My relationship with coach Guidugli is great. He is a really good guy, he knows his stuff about football. He and coach Fickell and the rest of the coaching staff really established a relationship with me and I feel comfortable with all of them.”
Lichtenberg will most likely not be the starting quarterback next year because the current quarterback is a redshirt junior, but he is not worried about that right now and hopes to be redshirted himself.
“In an ideal world I would want to be redshirted, but that’s not up to me. It’s up to the coaching staff. I think a redshirt year would provide a lot of growth and help me, and honestly any quarterback, I feel like that’s what most quarterbacks do if they don’t start as freshmen. I will cross that road when it gets here.”
Because of COVID-19, there were no non-conference games in the state of Ohio. St John’s also had a game against Lima Senior cancelled due to the coronavirus. To make up for the schedule, all schools in the state automatically qualify for the state playoffs which began on Oct. 9. Lichtenberg shared his confidence heading into the playoffs.
“I have a lot of confidence. I think this is the most confident I have been in my fours years being here. I think this is the most talented group and the most tight-knit group that I’ve had. I think that we can make it far, maybe we can make it to the state championship. I definitely think that’s a goal of ours this year. Other years we just wanted to make the playoffs and see what happened with it. This year we want to make the state championship and go as far as we can. I know it’s not going to be easy. We all know that but we’ll go game by game and not take any game for granted, because you never know when the season is going to end. I have a lot of confidence going into the playoffs and I think we can make a serious run.”
When asked about advice for athletes trying to play at the next level Lichtenberg offered, “Focus on your high school sports, everything with recruiting is going to come along with it. If you worry about recruiting too much, then you’re not going to perform as well in your normal high school games. Obviously, a lot of hard work goes with that, but just focus on your high school and give all your attention to your high school team. The recruiting stuff is going to come along with accolades you earn from that and the wins you get with your high school team. Trust the process. There were a lot of times whenI was too worried about recruiting and the stress levels of the school year just went way up. If I could redo it, I wouldn’t worry as much about all the offers and things like that. I would just focus more on my high school team and just take it slower.”