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 huge part of your potential on the table. In this episode, Coach Thomann breaks down exactly how he...

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 and grittiness like a badge of honor. Then life hit at home. Lee’s transformation didn’t begin at...

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 national qualifier (every year since 2021)4th place finisher at the 2023 USA Championships, earning a sp...

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 built competitive, resilient teams by putting culture before X’s and O’s. In this conversation, we d...

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 the throws as a sophomore, went on to win a Tennessee state title in the shot put, and eventually ...

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 School in Illinois, where his teams became known statewide for their toughness, consistency, and cha...

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 done. In this episode of The Mental Mettle Podcast, Gabi and I dig into how she went from that “I’m ...

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 the door to playing pro hockey in Germany while serving as an F‑16 crew chief. That season of pa...

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 actually help? Because of the diagnosis, she learned to eat right and fuel her b...

👉 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 own journey through cancer, stroke, and anxiety, Matt breaks down how well‑meaning parents ...