Josh Celiscar: Things I Know

The vast majority of rookie linemen in college football watch their freshman seasons from the sidelines as they get busy in the weight room and otherwise prepare themselves for the rigors of major college competition. Not UCF’s Josh Celiscar. He was game-ready from day one—making an interception, forcing and recovering a fumble and making a major impact in UCF’s season-opening win in 2020 at Georgia Tech in Celiscar’s collegiate debut. Celiscar laughingly talks about how some of the veteran UCF players barely knew who he was until that debut in Atlanta (an impactful 49-21 UCF win). Celiscar now has started 30 games for the Knights, 28 in a row, and he’s a rare two-time UCF captain. Without question, the 6-4, 265-pound senior psychology major is one of the most respected players on the roster by his teammates. In addition, the Winter Haven, Florida (Winter Haven High School), product was married May 27 to Sage-Lynae Celiscar, a biomedical science major from Fort Lauderdale (they met as freshman students at UCF). This is his first-person story.

Football for me started with my brother (Donald, who is nine years older than Josh and is now an assistant football coach at Western Michigan) when I was watching him growing up. I remember coming to one of his games and seeing him score two touchdowns. He played both sides of the ball in high school. One day we were driving by our local recreational center and I saw they were having Little League football tryouts. I was like, “I want to go, I want to go.” I asked my brother if he would talk to my dad. I went out there the first time and we were doing simple drills but the coach was kind of excited because I was a big kid. I was 10 years old. I was moving pretty well. I played a little running back, then offensive and defensive line, even linebacker and a little tight end. I played tight end, defensive end and outside linebacker in high school. They felt like I was athletic for my size so I played a little of everything. 

When my brother played defensive back at Western Michigan, my parents would go up and see him play, but I mostly watched on TV. If it wasn’t on ESPN I’d be looking for some kind of streaming site to watch him. I remember watching him play once on ESPN against Boise State and he forced a fumble on the first drive. I play to make him proud. He made it to the league (NFL), but he got hurt and didn’t make the impact he wanted to. So when I go out here it’s for me and for him and for my family. 

I talk to my brother every couple of days. He wants to know how I’m doing, how things are going, how football is going. Last year my brother kept emphasizing how well I’d established myself at UCF and what else I could still accomplish. He always gives me great advice. He doesn’t play the same position I do, but he’ll go to his defensive ends coach (Western Michigan defensive coordinator Lou Esposito) who recruited me out of high school, and tell him, “Josh had a good game.” And then Donald will call me and say, “Coach Espo says you need to work on this, this and this.” At the end of the day, my brother wants me to be great.

My recruiting process was a little slow. It seemed like there were a lot of players from other schools in the Winter Haven area who were getting more recognition than I was. I received my first offer my junior year from the Naval Academy. I went to visit there and it was really nice. My sister and brother are both in the military, but it just wasn’t for me. Virginia Tech and Tulane offered the same day, and I felt good about that. UCF was the only other school I visited. My dad said, “UCF is a deal-breaker because it’s close to home.” In my head, I liked the idea of being close to home—I didn’t really want to go out of state. I think I finished with 14 offers. I feel like I'm doing better than most of the players from my class from my area.

I didn’t get to UCF until the summer before my freshman season in 2020. I didn’t expect to play as a freshman because I came late compared to most of the freshmen. I was on Zoom with the coaches before I actually arrived—learning the playbook, learning what to do. In my head, I’m still not expecting to play right away. But some of the other guys are telling me, “Believe me, you’re going to play, I promise you, you’ve just got to be ready.” I figured, okay, if I’m going to play, I just want to make the most of my reps. 

On the first drive of the (2020) Georgia Tech game, they start driving down the field and they got to the 10-yard line. They ran a quarterback power run to my side with Jeff Sims and I just jumped and grabbed the ball out of his hand. Everybody was going crazy. After that it was history—everybody knew who I was. I also had an interception that game. But people were like, “Okay, he can play. But who is this guy?” It was a big win, our first game, against an ACC team--and Dillon Gabriel threw for 400 yards and four touchdowns. Some of the older guys on the team didn't really know me. I was laughing because guys were coming up and saying, “Good game,” when a week before they didn’t know my name. 

As a freshman, you just want to make a name for yourself so people think you belong, and I felt like I did that. I felt like I was big enough and strong enough when I got here—I just needed to learn the playbook. I felt like the coaches had a lot of trust in me after that first game. I tried to be a leader on the sideline—and the guys accepted that. That made me feel like I made the right decision coming to UCF. The older guys—Richie Grant and all the others--accepted me with open arms. Now they text me after games and they remember back when I was a freshman. 

I was surprised when I was elected a captain last year (2022). I didn’t even vote for myself. I voted for all seniors. Coach (Gus) Malzahn told me before the team meeting that I was going to be one of the captains and they announced it in front of the whole team. I looked at it and realized I was the only junior. That seemed crazy, but I like to think guys around the facility had respect for me. It’s a blessing. I didn’t expect to be in a position like that.

Because of Covid, I could actually still play another year (at UCF). But I don’t know what I’m going to do. I think the best thing is just to play hard this season and let the chips fall where they fall—just have a good season. From my freshman year, it has really gone fast. 

If a coach was scouting me, I think he’d say, “He’s a high-motor kid. He’s going to run to the ball and make hustle plays. He doesn't care who is in his way. He’s going to fight.” I try to play the game the right way. I try to get to the football. That’s what I do. I’m a hustle player.

My family came from Haiti. They didn’t really have much. My mom is always going to church--praying and having devotions. I’d go with my mom to church sometimes on Wednesdays or Thursdays if I could. My mom tells me, “Keep God first because without Him you wouldn’t be in the position you are now.” I’m truly blessed. There are a lot of kids in Haiti who would like to be in my position. My mom would tell me how lucky I was, and I never took it for granted. I try to reach out to young kids and make them realize what they really have. We still have a lot of family in Haiti—my mom and dad go back every now and then. I try to use my influence in a positive way. I’m a spiritual kid—I grew up in the church. With our group at UCF we start with devotionals in the morning—we talk about what God wants to do with our lives.  

I love the family culture at UCF. You got guys that really like being around each other. When you go through all the workouts you do, here are some hard times. But you go in the locker room and turn on some music and you want to be around your brothers. That camaraderie we have is great. I love that.