The Mental Mettle Podcast

What if everything you've worked for came down to just six attempts? That's the reality for Team USA hammer thrower Rachel Richeson. After years of training, sacrifice, and relentless improvement, Olympic dreams and World Championship opportunities can be decided by just six throws. In this episode of The Mental Mettle Podcast, Rachel shares her incredible journey from a high school voll...

What happens when a lifelong endurance athlete is suddenly told he has Stage 4 cancer and may only have months to live? In this episode of the Mental Mettle Podcast, Coach Matt Thomann sits down with Ironman competitor and author Jim Logan for a powerful conversation about resilience, faith, and the mindset required to keep moving forward when everything is on the line. Jim shares his journey thro...

In this episode of The Mental Mettle Podcast, Coach Matt Thomann sits down with Roanoke Benson girls basketball coach Ryan Davis for a powerful conversation about anxiety, expectations, coaching, and vulnerability. Ryan shares his personal story of battling severe performance anxiety as a high school athlete—a struggle that ultimately cut short the playing career he loved. But this isn't a st...

Most people think mental toughness is just grinding harder at what you’re already good at. This episode is about the opposite: choosing to be a beginner again on purpose. In this conversation, I sit down with USA Team Handball player and Olympic hopeful Katie Timmerman . Katie went from being a high-level college and pro basketball player to a complete novice in a sport she’d never even heard of…...

When life changes in an instant, who you are after matters more than what happened. In this episode of The Mental Mettle Podcast , Coach Matt sits down with Scott Lackey — U.S. Army veteran, former college basketball player, patented inventor, Ironman finisher, newspaper columnist, and leadership author — to talk about what he calls “lightning‑strike moments”: those shocks that split your life int...

In this episode of The Mental Mettle Podcast, Matt sits down with Team USA para powerlifter Ashley Dyce, who was born with spina bifida and has fought her way onto the world stage through a decade of relentless commitment. Ashley shares how she went from discovering the Paralympics on TV to representing the United States, what it really looks like to stick with one path for 10+ years, and how she’...

In this episode of The Mental Middle Podcast, Coach Matt Thomann sits down with Megan Gilmore—founder and executive director of Larksong , certified coach, and author—to talk about how early we should be building mental health and well‑being skills in kids. (Spoiler: much earlier than most people think.) We cover: Why well‑being and “mental health” for kids should start as early as physical health...

Regional Superintendent and ultramarathoner Kyle Thompson joins The Mental Mettle Podcast to break down how “time on feet” in the mountains has reshaped the way he leads, parents, and lives. Kyle is the Regional Superintendent of ROE #11 in Charleston, Illinois, and a 100-mile finisher who believes deeply in intentional adversity —choosing hard things on purpose so you’re ready for the hard things...

Unlock the real difference-maker in sports performance: your mind. In this solo episode of The Mental Mettle Podcast , Coach Matt Thomann reveals the Secrets Behind the Third Skill Set: Mental Performance —the hidden skill set that separates average athletes from consistent peak performers. You already train skills and strength. But if you’re not training your mindset on purpose , you’re leaving a...

In this episode of The Mental Mettle Podcast, Coach Matt Thomann sits down with 24-year coaching veteran and fellow Millikin alum, Coach Lee Mateer of Taylorville High School. By his own words, Lee used to be “the raging psychopath” on the sideline — yelling, screaming, cursing, and tying his entire identity to wins and losses. He was the classic old school, outcome-obsessed coach who wore misery...

Today’s episode of The Mental Mettle Podcast is all about what you do after you hit rock bottom, in sport and in life. My guest is Olympian discus thrower Joe Brown (@joethethrower on Instagram) —one of only a handful of Division II athletes to make it all the way to the 2024 Paris Olympics . Joe is the: 2019 NCAA Division II national champion in the discus (won on his final attempt) 4x USATF nati...

Before the crisis hits, your team has already decided how it will respond. In this episode of The Mental Mettle Podcast , Coach Matt Thomann sits down with IBCA Hall of Fame coach Chad Cluver to unpack how daily habits, standards, and relationships shape a team’s response to adversity long before the big moment arrives. Across 36 years on the sidelines and over 450 career wins, Coach Cluver has bu...

On this episode of The Mental Mettle Podcast, Matt sits down with 2020 Olympian and NCAA national champion hammer thrower Alex Young to talk about what it really means to “do all your labor as unto the Lord.” Alex grew up in Laverne, Tennessee as a football and weight-room kid before a high school coach pulled him into track and field. Inspired by watching Reese Hoffa at the Olympics, he took up t...

In this episode of The Mental Mettle Podcast , Coach Matt Thomann sits down with Pat Ryan, Director of High School Relations for Illinois Football and longtime head coach at Metamora High School. 📌 About Pat Ryan Pat Ryan is the Director of High School Relations for the University of Illinois football program. Before joining Illinois, he spent decades as the head football coach at Metamora High S...

Team USA discus thrower Gabi Jacobs didn’t start track dreaming of the Olympics. She joined in 7th grade just to hang out with friends, then quietly became a three-time All-American and three-time SEC champion at Mizzou. After a heartbreaking Olympic Trials in 2021 and the pressure of juggling demanding jobs with elite training, she walked away from the sport completely—fully believing she was don...

Former pro hockey player, Air Force veteran, and sport & performance psychologist Dr. Dave Jones joins The Mental Mettle Podcast to unpack the battle between fear and faith—and how “toxic motivators” quietly drive so many athletes and high performers off course. Dr. Dave shares how a brutal slap shot to the face ended his early hockey career, led him into the Air Force, and unexpectedly opened...

McKenna McKee is a 16-time National Champion in sprint cycling, she is an Olympic hopeful for Team USA, and she is also in school to become a nurse.  She is an impressive young woman and her accomplishments are notable.  What makes it even more impressive is that she was diagnosed with diabetes at age 6. Or does it?   Does the diagnosis make it harder for her to be an elite athlete or did it actua...

👉 Get the free playbook here:  resilientparentsplaybook.com Resilient Parents Playbook: 5 Mistakes Killing Your Athlete’s Confidence (and What to Do Instead) In this episode of The Mental Mettle Podcast, Coach Matt Thomann pulls back the curtain on the real mental performance coach in every young athlete’s life: their parents. Drawing on hundreds of hours working with athletes, coaches, and his o...

In this episode of The Mental Mettle Podcast , Coach Matt Thomann sits down with Team USA climber Ben Hanna , one of the grittiest and most consistent competitors in American climbing. Ben was never the “young phenom” who won everything. He never won Youth Nationals, watched peers win titles and World Cups, and almost quit multiple times. Instead, he built a world‑class career on longevity, stubbo...

Skydiving with Sharks with Travis Thomas: Improv Tools for Athletes and Coaches In this episode of The Mental Mettle Podcast, Coach Matt Thomann sits down with performance coach, keynote speaker, and author Travis Thomas to unpack how improv isn’t just for comedians—it’s a powerful mental performance tool for athletes, coaches, and high performers. Travis shares his journey from being a self-descr...

Olympian and U.S. Nordic Combined national champion Niklas Malacinski joins The Mental Mettle Podcast to break down the real mental side of elite performance. Nordic combined is already wild: ski jumping plus cross-country skiing in one event. But the psychology behind mastering two completely different disciplines? That’s next level. In this episode, we dive into: How Niklas uses meditation and d...

In Part 2 of my conversation with Team USA bobsled pilot Shane Fisher, we go deeper into the real cost of chasing an Olympic dream—and why mindset alone isn’t enough when the bills keep coming. Shane pulls back the curtain on the financial side of being an elite athlete for Team USA: How little funding most athletes actually receive The sacrifices and side jobs required just to stay in the game Th...

Shane Fisher is an elite athlete on a mission to become an Olympian. He started in tennis, moved into the decathlon, and now competes as a pilot for the USA Bobsled Team. Along the way, Shane has learned that mental skills matter more than physical talent. Yes, he trains hard—but his unwavering self-belief is what truly drives his success. He’s also discovered a tougher truth: being an athlete for...

In this episode of The Mental Mettle Podcast, Matt sits down with Morgan (Kane) Brons —former Iowa State women’s basketball standout, D2 Sweet 16 finisher at Nova Southeastern, and founder of Winning Edge Coaching . Morgan’s journey is a masterclass in resilience, identity, and mental toughness: In this episode, we cover: Morgan’s path from Utah standout to Iowa State post player The ego hit and s...

In this episode of The Mental Mettle Podcast, Coach Matt Thomann sits down with Coach Greg Geisinger to dig into what it really means to “coach the heart first.” After more than 20 years in boys’ high school basketball and a successful run as the head boys coach at Arcola High School, Greg made a surprising move: stepping away from a winning boys program to take over the girls team in a really tou...