4th Down Focus

Episode 43 of the podcast welcomes Bill Shafer, co-inventor of the Launchpad Kickoff Tee. After serving in the Navy, Shafer walked on to the University of Akron's football team and earned the kicking job. After playing one season for the Zips his wife shared the news they'd be expecting a baby boy. Consequently, Shafer hung up the cleats at Akron and enrolled in paramedic school.

Shafer would play a few years of semi-professional football while working in Akron before being drafted by the Erie Freeze in 2006. During this time he invented the Launch Pad Kickoff Tee with his partner David Abdul. After noticing a trend in NFL kickers leaning the ball forward for field goals (but not kickoffs), Shafer became curious if a forward lean could improve the ball’s contact point and trajectory for kickoffs.

At 60, Shafer still kicks and considers kicking a football to be pure joy. On his free time he enjoys coaching and helping kickers of all levels improve and chase their dreams.

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Episode 42 of the podcast welcomes Sam Lenson. Lenson was a punter and kicker for the University of Maine from 2013-2018.

In 2019, he joined the University of Maine’s coaching staff as the Special Teams Quality Control coach. During this time Lenson launched Lenson Punting and Kicking, a company focused on specialists’ development and recruitment.

Currently, Lenson lives in southern Maine where he is a PE teacher and the University of New England’s specialist coach.

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Episode 41 of the podcast welcomes Jacob Tilghman, former long snapper for the University of Florida. In 2015, Tilghman walked on to the Gators football program and eventually earned his role as the starting long snapper. Tilghman was a four-time SEC Academic Honor Roll recipient, earning his master’s degree in Sports Management. He currently works for the Bench Craft Company in Sarasota, FL.

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Episode 40 of the podcast welcomes Alex Ward, long snapper for the University of Central Florida. Ward is entering his final season with UCF, where he’s started the last 23 games for the Knights while majoring in mechanical engineering.

Coach Lundy and Alex Ward discuss everything from how to take control of your recruiting process to parallels between physics and football.

Learn how both are using mathematics and science to aid in the instruction and application of kicking, punting, and snapping mechanics.

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Dr. Tracy Davenport is a recognized expert in the field of health and performance. Covering the latest health research, she's had more than 1,000 articles published over the last two decades. She was a co-developer of U.S. Rowing’s Coaching Education Program and has worked with athletes and coaches across the country explaining the latest science around sleep to help them achieve optimal performance.

Davenport holds an M.A. in Psychology and a Ph.D. in Human Growth and Development. She was named Graduate Student of the Year at the University of Delaware, the recipient of the President’s Medal from Washington College, the Woman of the Year from the Mid-Shore Community Foundation, and the Minority Achievement Award winner from the Maryland State Department of Education.

She lives on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and is a long-time wife of a college coach and mother to two athletes, a college football player and a NASCAR pit crew member. She loves to work with trainers, coaches, and athletes at all levels and can be found at Tracyshealthyliving.com.

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Episode 38 of the podcast welcomes Bob Chesney, the head football coach at the College of the Holy Cross. Chesney began his head coaching career at Salve Regina University in 2010. In his first year he led Salve Regina to a 6-4 record, snapping a streak of 8-straight losing seasons.

In 2013 Chesney was named head coach at Assumption College and in 2015 he led the Greyhounds to an 11-2 record. Chesney was named the Northeast-10 Coach of the Year, the New England Football Writers Coach of the Year, and the Hero Sports Division II National Coach of the Year.

In 2018, Chesney was named head coach at Holy Cross, where he enters his 4th season this fall. In 2019 Chesney led Holy Cross to the school’s first Patriot League championship in 10 years and the third NCAA FCS berth in program history. Chesney was named the Patriot League Coach of the Year after posting a 5-1 record in conference play to tie the school single-season record for Patriot League victories. Under Chesney’s guidance, Holy Cross has won back-to-back Patriot League Championships and produced 35 All-Conference selections.

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Episode 37 of the podcast welcomes Bailey Cate, former punter for Old Dominion University. Cate grew up in Orange Park, FL where he averaged 44 yards per punt his senior year and was named the #1 HS punter in Florida by several recruiting services.

In his true freshman season at Old Dominion Cate was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team. He punted 57 times with 23 fair catches and 25 punts downed inside the 20-yard line. He also kicked two extra points and was 1/1 on FG against NC State.

Cate would go on to appear in every game the next 3 seasons at Old Dominion, setting records for punts in a season (w/ 66), punts inside the 20 (w/ 84), and the ODU career record for career punts (w/ 244), totaling 9,648 yards (5.5 miles).

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Episode 36 of the podcast welcomes Chris Harvey, current head coach for Clearwater Central Catholic HS. Harvey grew up in Accoville, WV and was a two-sport athlete at Man HS, playing football and baseball.

He would choose to play football for the University of Miami over West Virginia, Wake Forest, and Virginia Tech. In Harvey’s redshirt freshman season with the Hurricanes he was named the winner of the Albert Bentley Award, given to the team’s Most Valuable Walk-On. He perfectly executed 18 FG snaps, 50 long snaps, and 58 conversion kicks (126 total snaps) during his first season starting for the Hurricanes.

The following season Harvey would be placed on full scholarship, where he would go on to win the 2001 Rose Bowl National Championship.

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Episode 35 of the podcast welcomes Collin Mills. A native of C­­­­itra, FL, Mills played OL/DL for North Marion HS. In his junior year he also earned the starting LS position. By his senior season, Mills was a nationally ranked, 5-star LS.

He would commit to UCF out of high school but would eventually transfer to Southern Miss. Mills would earn the starting LS position for the Golden Eagles, playing in every game as the team's snapper on punts, field goals and extra points. More importantly, he did not have a block on any punts or field goals in an entire season.

In Episode 35, Coach Lundy and Collin Mills discuss the business of playing college football, specialization and its role in sports, and life after football.

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Episode 34 of the podcast welcomes Grant Goupil, former punter for Mercer University. Goupil grew up in Orlando, FL where he was a 3-sport athlete for Lake Mary High School. He was named the starting punter as a true freshman at Mercer, playing in all 11 games with an average of 41.3 yards on 58 punts. Goupil would redshirt his sophomore year and return his junior season to earn the starting punter position. He graduated on May 17, 2021 (a day before the podcast recording) with a major in Cinematography and Film/Video Production.

Coach Dan Lundy and Grant Goupil discuss transitioning from high school to college athletics, dealing with setbacks, the importance of preparation, and so much more!

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