The fall will feel a little different for Stephen Lickert.
After 22 seasons as a head football coach, the last eight with Newport Central Catholic, Lickert has decided to resign and focus on his duties as a principal at Withrow High School in Cincinnati.
Lickert informed the school and the team on Monday.
“Adding that level of responsibility made it really difficult to be a head football coach,” Lickert said. “If things come up at school, you have to deal with them, you can’t just leave and go to practice so I didn’t want to put NewCath in a position to where I couldn’t fulfill my duties as a head football coach. I love coaching, but I also love being a principal where you not only impact 45 kids in that locker room, but you can help impact every kid that walks in that school.”
In eight seasons at the helm on ‘The Hill’, Lickert went 68-34 which included a 30-0 record against district opponents. They won seven postseason district championships and two region titles during that time. After a 5-7 record in his first year and a playoff exit in the second round, the ‘Breds had a winning record every season since and reached the region championship round each season, winning region titles in 2020 and 2022. He won KFCA District Coach of the Year in 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
“I had a coach tell me a long time ago, ‘You’ll be judged as a coach in 10 years when you see how these boys come on to be young men’,” Lickert said. “My goal was to help mold them to be great young men and great fathers. Help them figure out who they are and what they want to do and support them through the good and bad times. I feel like I’ve built great relationships over the past 20 years.”
Lickert now has a coaching tree from former players he coached. Simon Kenton football coach Joe Wynn and Boone County football coach Dan Court played under Lickert.
“I feel like it’s a tell tale sign that players want to work with you, coach with you and it’s not always like that,” Lickert said. “Hopefully they go on and become great coaches themselves.”
Lickert is a 1997 Highlands grad and was a member of the Bluebirds 1996 state championship team. He went on to play at Georgetown College, winning a NAIA national championship with the Tigers in 2000.
Prior to NewCath, Lickert coached at Campbell County, Holmes and Dayton, getting his head coaching career started in 2004 with the Greendevils. In three seasons at Dayton, he was the 2006 KFCA District Coach of the Year and received the NKFCA Owen Hauck CLIFFF Award.
He took over Holmes in 2007, leading the Bulldogs to district championships in 2009 and ’10, their first district titles since 1978. He was the 2009 NKFCA Owen Hauck CLIFF Award winner and 2010 KFCA District Coach of the Year.
He led Campbell County from 2011-17, guiding the Camels to two district titles and five playoff wins. The district title in 2011 was the program’s first in 31 years and followed it up with another district title in 2012. He was the KFCA District Coach of the Year in 2012.
NewCath enters a new era in 2026 as football will be played on campus at Robert J. Schneider Field. They broke ground in October 2024 and initial plans had laid out the facility be ready by the end of 2025 season, but weather and other factors delayed the timeline.
The ‘Breds are coming off a season in which they finished 8-5 and a loss in the region championship round to Campbellsville for the third straight season. They had 46 players on the KHSAA roster, 12 of them seniors which include starting quarterback Emmanuel Miles, leading rusher Eddie Bivens, their top five receivers and standout offensive lineman William Sandfoss, who will continue his playing career at Marshall University.
“There’s a lot to be excited for at NewCath,” Lickert said. “They had a 7th and 8th grade team this past year. When I first took over, we had 19 kids in the program. The leadership is unbelievable and community is phenomenal.”