4th Down Focus

Episode 101 of the podcast features Grant McKinniss, former kicker and punter for the Kentucky Wildcats and Missouri Tigers. Following his playing career, McKinniss spent two seasons as a Special Teams Analyst at Eastern Michigan University before founding Combine Kicking, a specialist training and college exposure company based in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is also an active member of The Tour, powered by TrackMan Football.

Dan Lundy and Luke Jackson discuss mental conditioning and its effects on performance.

Episode 97 of the podcast welcomes Luke Jackson, founder of Clutch University and 4th Down University Mental performance.

Episode 95 of the podcast welcomes Trey Triplette, a certified nutritionist and founder of 3natural Bio Nutrition. He received his nutritionist certification from San Francisco College under the guidance of Lisa Yamashiro, MEd, RD. As part of his training he studied a myriad of nutritional aspects, including clinical nutrition, food service, food science, and nutritional biochemistry.

Ben Fentress is former a special teams coach at the University of Wyoming & Montana State. Currently, he’s known as one of the nation’s most relentless recruiters for specialists in HS, the portal, and now internationally.

Chris Bowen is the co-founder of Michigan Kicking Academy and a former all-conference kicker at Hope College. Currently, he serves as a high school special teams coach and middle school teacher in Hudsonville, Michigan. Bowen has trained specialists in Michigan for the last 15 years, offering specialists form-focused instruction.

Jace Riley is the founder of 6am Practice, an organization focused on simple strategies for student-athletes.

Mitchell is a Chicago Tribune sports columnist who has written 11 sports books in his 41-year journalism career. During the mid-1960s Mitchell enjoyed a distinguished football career at Wittenberg University. He emerged as one of the nation’s first prominent small-college place-kicking specialists by setting the NCAA “College Division” record for career points scored by a kicker. In 2009, the Fred Mitchell Outstanding Place-Kicker Award was founded, in his name, and it has since been presented annually to the nation’s top collegiate place-kicker among more than 750 FCS, Division 2, 3, NAIA & JUCO football programs. In 2013, Mitchell was inducted into the American Football Kicking Hall of Fame. When he isn’t writing, Mitchell is serving others through various civic engagements.

Ricky Krautman is a former kicker at Syracuse, William Patterson University, and the Roc City Thunder . He is the founder of Ricky Krautman Kicking, a private kicking and punting training camp operating in New Jersey and the Tri-state area.

Grant McKinniss is a former kicker and punter at the University of Kentucky and the University of Missouri. He is the founder of Kicking Maximum Development (Kicking MD), a kicking and punting program offered in Ohio and Kentucky.

Coach Jörn Scholl has been influential in the growth of American Football in Germany. In his 17th year coaching, Scholl has helped lead the following organizations: 2005 – 2007 Duisburg Thunderbirds Flag Football Team U15 2007 - 2009 Duisburg Thunderbirds Head Coach U14 2009 Duisburg Thunderbirds OC U16 2009 - 2011 Duisburg Thunderbirds OC (Head Coach since 2011) U19 2009 - 2009 Duisburg Thunderbirds Head Coach Adult Team 2009 – 2012 NRW U16 All State Team WRs 2011 - 2014 Uerdingen Tomahawks Defense Coordinator U19 2014 - 2020 Cologne Crocodiles LB Coach/Video Analyst U19/Special Teams 2017 – 2020 Cologne Crocodiles U19 HC/Defense Coordinator 2020 – 2021 Cologne Crocodiles 2nd Menth Team Defense Coordinator 2021 – 2022 Cologne Centurions (European Football League) Special Teams Coordinator

Brion Ashley is a former kicker and punter for Florida Tech and currently serves as the Special Teams Coordinator for Clearwater Academy International in Clearwater, FL.