Joe Licata (born November 16, 1992) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

coach and former

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

. He played college football at Buffalo. He was signed by the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The club's home ...

as an undrafted free agent in 2016.

Early years

Licata attended

Williamsville South High School Williamsville South High School is a high school located in Williamsville, New York, a suburb of Buffalo, New York. South is one of three high schools in the Williamsville Central School District, along with Williamsville North High School and ...

Williamsville, New York Williamsville is a village in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 5,423 at the 2020 census. The village is named after Jonas Williams, an early settler. It is part of the Buffalo– Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistic ...

, where he played both football and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

. As a basketball player, he set the

New York State Public High School Athletic Association The New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) is the governing body of interscholastic sports for most public schools in New York outside New York City.http://www.nysphsaa.org/ ''nysphsaa.org'', accessed 15-JAN-2008. The ...

record for career

three-point field goal A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or trey) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two poi ...

s made with 343. He set the school's career record for passing yards, and was named ''

Buffalo News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It recently sold its headquarters to Uniland Development Corp. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by W ...

'' Player of the Year in 2010. Licata received scholarship offers to play college football for

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States * Syracuse, New York ** East Syracuse, New York ** North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, M ...

Akron Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city pro ...

and Buffalo in addition to interest from other schools. Licata committed to the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1 ...

, saying it "was a dream to represent Buffalo" and play for his hometown team in front of his friends and family. His little sister, Grace, plays Division III basketball at

Buffalo State College The State University of New York College at Buffalo (colloquially referred to as Buffalo State College, SUNY Buffalo State, Buffalo State, or simply Buff State) is a public college in Buffalo, New York. It is part of the State University of New ...

College career

Licata was redshirted as a freshman in 2011. He entered the 2012 season as the backup quarterback to Alex Zordich, but earned the starting job midway through the season and led the team to a 3–1 record over the final four games of the season. In

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

, Licata and the Bulls had one of the finest team seasons in school history, as he led the team to an 8–5 record and an appearance in the

2013 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl The 2013 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl was an American college football bowl game that was played on December 21, 2013 at Bronco Stadium on the campus of Boise State University in Boise, Idaho Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city o ...

, the second bowl appearance in school history. During the 2014 season, Licata posted one of the finest passing seasons in Buffalo school history, throwing for 2,647 passing yards, and a school single-season record 29 passing touchdowns. The 2015 season saw Licata finish his college career by passing

Drew Willy Drew Willy (born November 13, 1986) is a former American professional Canadian football quarterback. He was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2009. He played college football at Buffalo. Willy has also been a member o ...

to become Buffalo's career leader in both passing yards (9,485) and passing touchdowns (76).

NCAA career stats

Professional career

After going undrafted in the

2016 NFL Draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft be ...

and receiving a pro tryout from the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division ...

, on May 16, 2016 Licata was signed as an undrafted free agent by the

. In the

NFL preseason The National Football League preseason is the period each year during which NFL teams play several not-for-the-record exhibition games before the actual "regular" season starts. Beginning with the featured Pro Football Hall of Fame game in early ...

, he completed three of ten passes and threw two interceptions. Licata was released on August 29.

Coaching career

On July 14, 2017, Licata accepted a position at

Bishop Timon – St. Jude High School Bishop Timon – St. Jude High School (formerly Bishop Timon High School) is a Roman Catholic Franciscan high school for young men administered and staffed by the Order of Friars Minor located in South Buffalo, New York. Bishop Timon High School ...

South Buffalo, Buffalo, New York South Buffalo is a neighborhood that makes up the southern third of the City of Buffalo, New York. Traditionally known for its large Irish-American community, this community also has a strong presence of various other nationalities. The once-hea ...

as head coach and athletic director. Here, he had the worst winning percentage of any football coach in Timon history with a record of 7–30 in 4 seasons. He also helped developed junior varsity players for Jason Rowe's varsity basketball program. On May 28, 2021, Licata accepted a position to return to the University at Buffalo as an offensive analyst on the staff of new Bulls head coach

Maurice Linguist Maurice Linguist (born April 1, 1984) is an American football coach. He is the head football coach at the University at Buffalo, a position he had held since 2021. Playing career A native of Mesquite, Texas, Linguist played at Mesquite High Scho ...

. On March 9, 2022, Licata returned to Williamsville South High School as their football head coach.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Buffalo Bulls bioCincinnati Bengals bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Licata, Joe 1992 births Living people American football quarterbacks Buffalo Bulls football coaches Buffalo Bulls football players Cincinnati Bengals players High school football coaches in New York (state) Sportspeople from Buffalo, New York Players of American football from Buffalo, New York