25th Hour Ideas

Micah Kiser is going into his 4th season as a middle linebacker for the Los Angeles Rams. He won the Campbell Trophy in 2017, he was an Academic All-American at UVA, and was twice named to the First Team All-ACC. He’s taught me a lot about football over the years, and he’s already overcome several setbacks in the NFL with persistence and determination. This is a fascinating conversation about Mica...

This conversation really made me think. Dan Hatman has a wealth of experience as a scout, coach, and student of football. His paper on all things related to NFL general managers is a fantastic resource. In this conversation he talks about economics as it relates to football, improving the talent pool for general managers, and best practices regarding organizational culture. The Scouting Academy Ti...

Adam Harstad is a phenomenal thinker. Over the past couple of years I've seen him distill complex ideas from several disciplines and apply them to fantasy football. This episode covers interesting frameworks that transcend football, including risk homeostasis, second-order thinking, resource allocation, and many more. You can find a collection of his writing here . Timestamps (2:12) How to fi...

Canaan Severin is not only one of the greatest WRs in UVA history, but he's also a film writer and director. He just released his first film " Lean In " earlier this month.  Since graduating from Virginia, Canaan spent time in the NFL with the Steelers and Giants. In this episode he shares stories from his football career about systems, habits, the importance of people, and the powe...

Henry “The Hammer” Coley was a leader of the 2014 Virginia Cavaliers. I’ve always wanted to ask him about leadership, his approach to learning the game, and how his skills have translated to life after football.  Since graduating with his Master’s, Henry spent time in the NFL before becoming a consultant and entrepreneur. Henry is a leader everywhere he goes, and this conversation is filled with i...

Nicholas Conte , specialists coach at VMI and decorated former UVA punter, teaches a masterful lesson on mindset and achieving high performance. This transcends football. Our conversation spans the mental side of playing and training, the role of specialists in games and practice, proper nutrition, and Conte’s journey from UVA to VMI and one day soon the NFL. If you haven't already, writing a...

Alex is currently working towards his Master's in Data Science at the University of Virginia. Not only has he been working for the UVA football team in an analytical capacity, but he also presented his own research at the NFL's Big Data Bowl in 2020. I came across his paper and was eager to reach out to him. Our discussion covers the deficiencies of traditional box scores, judging inform...

Chris Saave is an entrepreneur I’ve been fortunate to see in action the past few years. We cover his thoughts on starting a business, the importance of learning, finding hidden knowledge, and how to take risks. Many of these lessons have helped me along my entrepreneurial journey. Chris has certainly stepped his game up with his latest venture, Meet Me Card . If you enjoy the episode, you'd l...

Who better to ask about leadership than the person who started the most games at quarterback while I was at UVA? Matt Johns, currently the quarterbacks coach at William & Mary, loves football. His actions and words have always been in alignment, and that's just one of the many lessons I've learned from him over the years. If you enjoy the episode, you'd love my weekly newsletter...

This conversation with Jackson Matteo is special.  We cover his time at Virginia chronologically, from walk-on to graduate assistant coach, and examine how our relationship evolved along the way.  I have learned so much from Jackson about commitment, discipline, and total effort. Jackson is currently working on his dissertation, and he explains why his topic of choice is important and prevalent. I...

When you're part of a team, consistency is an invaluable trait. Sean Cascarano has that trait in spades. Sean is currently an Assistant Coach at Cornell where he coaches the offensive line. He's consistently been dedicated to his team and to teaching the fundamentals. In this episode we discuss lessons Sean learned from coaching at multiple colleges, the importance of consistency within...

Harkening back to Dwight D. Eisenhower, "plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." Few people I know are as detail oriented as Jacob Hodges . He not only provided me with an invaluable opportunity at UVA (in response to a 2014 email that gets read on the podcast), but he's taught me a lot over the years. Since our shared time at Virginia, Hodges has become a math teacher an...

This week I'm thrilled to be learning more from Zach Tenuta . Since our shared time at Virginia, Zach has become the Co-Defensive Coordinator and Linebackers Coach at Norfolk State University. Zach and I discuss the process of learning and developing as a coach, the importance of having mentors, and recount the time we had to drop $100 at a Kinko's. If you enjoy the podcast, I would grea...

For the first official episode my guest is none other than Kaveh Akbari ( @kaveh_akbari ), a certified NFL player agent and expert marketer. Kaveh and I discuss the role of agents, what goes into creating your own agency, using leverage in a negotiation, my plans for a signed picture of me and Adam Cole, and many more issues involving economic concepts and the NFL. Sign up for the email newsletter...

The best time to start this podcast was several years ago. The second best time is now. Learn what's to come, what exactly the 25th hour even is, and where you can find more of my work. Spoiler alert: it's all at 25hourideas.com Where to listen, subscribe, rate, and review: Apple Podcasts Spotify Newsletter Blog Twitter Thank you for listening!