COLUMBUS, Ohio — Luke Fickell was a standout athlete at DeSales High School. 

When Bob Jacoby thinks back to the kind of player Fickell was, nothing but good memories come to mind.

“He’s really the best team player that we’ve ever had here,” said Jacoby, Fickell’s high school football coach. “He’s also the most mentally tough kid we’ve had here.”

Jacoby was the head football coach at Desales High School when Fickell broke into his football career. Fickle was a star athlete before he ever touched a field. He was a top-ranked wrestler in the United States, finishing undefeated every year.

While he dominated on the mat, he wanted to be a part of a team and came to Jacoby for a position on the field his junior year. That same year, 1990, he was the top high school tight end prospect in the state and Division II First Team All-Ohio.

The next year, Jacoby asked him to take a risk and switch to center. Although some thought the decision was risky, Jacoby knew it would pay off in the long run.

“I think he did it for the team,” said Jacoby. “We took what was a fairly average team talent-wise, and went all the way to the state semifinals with it, because of what I believe that move right there.” 

After high school, Fickell went on to become a standout defensive player at Ohio State University. He then began his coaching career in 2000, spending two years as an assistant at the University of Akron.

He got the opportunity to move back to his hometown in 2002, where he would serve as special teams coordinator, linebacker coach and co-defensive coordinator at Ohio State. He was also interim head coach for a year.

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Things came full-circle when he was named Cincinnati's head coach in 2016, considering they lost to the Cincinnati Academy of Physical Education in the state semifinals his senior year. 

Fickell left DeSales to do great things but has always stayed true to his roots. Jacoby said Fickell always makes it a point to stop and see him while on the recruiting trail.

“Whether we had players or not, and usually we didn’t, he would stop in at least once a year and talk to me just as a courtesy I think, because that's the kind of guy he is,” said Jacoby. 

Fickell's legacy lives on in Desales players like Johnathan Thompson. Thompson signed a letter of intent to the University of Cincinnati on National Signing Day. The high school senior was injured most of the year, but was the Division 3 Defensive Player of the Year in 2020  when the team was the state runner-up.

Jacoby said Thompson will be in good hands, and that Fickell will continue to be the goal post for players to come.

“His family, his faith and his team have always come first and he’s never veered from that,” said Jacoby. “I think Johnathan is in a great position, along with a couple other Desales people that are already there, to have a chance to be a part of all that.”

The Bearcats had an undefeated regular season and will play Alabama in the College Football Playoff on Friday on New Year's Eve, and Jacoby plans on watching the game at home with his family.