Gridiron Glory 25: where are they now? Season 16 Host – Nathan Takitch

Former Gridiron Glory host Nathan Takitch loves to tell a good story – a passion he says he embraced during his time working at WOUB. But for the television broadcaster-turned strategic communications professional, one of his favorite stories to tell is about his time covering southeast Ohio football games from the sidelines and the Gridiron studio.

“All of my college memories associate with Gridiron or WOUB in some way,” said Takitch. “It was just a fantastic experience.”

Takitch was the host of season 16 of Gridiron Glory in the fall of 2014. For the kid who grew up in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, becoming host of the show was a dream come true.

“I knew I was interested in sports broadcasting and sports journalism in high school,” said Takitch. “I was the co-editor in chief of my high school newspaper. A friend was going to Ohio University for a summer visit right before my senior year, and I went along with him. One of the first stops we made on campus was WOUB. After seeing that along with the beautiful, sunny campus, there was nowhere else I was going to go. All other college visits just paled in comparison.”

Takitch got involved with Gridiron right away, even though he originally thought he might be interested in print journalism.

“During the freshman year Student Involvement Fair at the Convocation Center, I spoke with Blake Brodie, who was the Gridiron host my freshman year. They had me call some highlights on the spot and made feel good about how I did,” Takitch said with a laugh. “So, I started working on Gridiron.”

By his sophomore year, Takitch was a reporter for the show and assigned to the MVL conference. His junior year, he was covering the TVC Ohio.

“Going into my senior year, I knew I wanted to be host. That was something I knew that first day at the Convo,” said Takitch. “I was really committed to Gridiron, and it was something I wanted to excel at. I also understood that the host position was a position of great importance to the community. As a reporter, I really got to see how much Gridiron meant to southeast Ohio. It was fun to be a part of that and an honor to be the face of that.”

Takitch says one of the biggest honors of his time on Gridrion was the opportunity to cover Cincinnati Bengals Quarterback Joe Burrow while he was in high school.

“When Joe Burrow went to Ohio State, we had a Gridiron group text going where we talked about what was happening with him,” said Takitch. “And then when he transferred to LSU, and they had the stand-alone primetime game that weekend, our group chat blew up. It continues to get more amazing to me as time goes on, as we have watched Joe set records, win the Heisman and play in the NFL. When they show his high school highlights nationally, we know that’s our Gridiron coverage.”

After graduation, Takitch got a job as a news reporter at WSAZ-TV in Charleston/Huntington, West Virginia. He worked there for three years before deciding to transition out of the news business and into strategic communications. Since then, Takitch has worked as press secretary for the West Virginia Governor’s Office, communications director for the Ohio Department of Aging, and now as a communications advisor for the Ohio Governor’s Office.

“In this job I still use what I learned working on Gridiron,” said Takitch. “Ultimately, it’s all about telling a compelling and cohesive story that informs people. I learned the foundation to become a great storyteller on Gridiron.”

Takitch is not surprised the show is going into its 25th season because he understands its value to not only the community, but also the students who work on the show each season.

“It feels like it’s been around forever. To get to the point where you are at such a specific milestone, 25 years, that’s special. And the show has been through a lot of changes. It went from standard definition to high definition. I was there for that, and I remember I had to wear makeup for the first time,” said Takitch with a chuckle. “And now with the internet and social media, it’s very exciting to see how it has transformed and stayed relevant over time and continues to matter to the people of southeast Ohio.”

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