Stay Ready: The Podcast

Matt and Scott are back with another episode of Stay Ready The Podcast! In this action-packed episode, they break down the first quarter of the NFL season—who's been hot, who's not, and the sleeper teams you need to watch out for. We dive into the resurgence of Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold, and how good Jayden Daniels is looking. Plus, is there a QB controversy brewing with the Tennessee Titans? We tackle it all.

Switching gears, we recap Alabama’s big win over Georgia and debate if Bryce Young is already on the path to becoming a bust. We also chat about Morgan Wallen’s epic 3-night concert series at Neyland Stadium, Matt’s latest adventures volunteering at a local high school, and much more. Tune in for football talk, music, and some Tennessee pride!

On this episode Matt and Scott sit down with Indiana Pacers first round pick Ben Sheppard. Before joining the NBA, Ben played college basketball at Belmont in Nashville, TN. Listen in as Ben joins his first podcast to discuss a number of topics. The guys get the podcast going discussing the NFL season starting back and talk about the first ever Friday game in Brazil which leads to Ben sharing the news that he will be playing a game in France against the Spurs this upcoming season.  From there they dive into Ben's upbringing and his love of sports from an early age. Ben details how growing up he played all sports before really focusing in on basketball later on during high school. From there they touch on his high school playing days which leads to Ben going into detail about the "NBA Dream." 

They also discuss what it was like on draft day with Ben talking about everything that happened leading up the biggest night of his life. He talks about working out for several teams thinking one of those would pick him but it was the Indiana Pacers who had no contact leading up to the draft that made him their selection. Ben goes on to talk about his first practice with the team, the players he idolized growing up and getting to play against, the Caitlin Clark hype and how he can't wait to attend one of her games, and the different arenas he's played in so far and how special it is to be able to be on the court of The Garden where he would always go to games during the holiday season as a kid. 

On this episode of Stay Ready: The Podcast, Matt sits down with actor/ musician Grayson Russell. Grayson, is best known for his roles in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and the Diary of a Wimpy Kid film series. Along with Talledga Nights and The Diary Of A Wimpy Kid Series, Grayson has been a part of hit movies such as Greyhound with Tom Hanks, Marley and Me with Jennifer Anniston and Mother's Day with Julia Roberts. He also has a reoccurring role on the current television series Blue Ridge. 

Matt and Grayson discuss several topics relating to Grayson's career; starting with his earliest memories of wanting to be like George Strait at two years old, getting the part of Texas Ranger Bobby in Talladega Nights, the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series, other major roles in movies and shows, becoming a musician and most importantly the role his faith played throughout his career. 

Matt is back with another episode of Stay Ready: The Podcast and this time he's brought one of his best childhood friends on, Adam Glick.
Chef Adam Glick has traveled the world on private boats and yachts, cooking sophisticated cuisine for the some of the world's wealthiest people. From adventures on the sea, stints on Reality TV, to cooking intimate meals with guests in remote locations, Adam has been able to experience the unimaginable when it comes to a culinary career. 
Adam has had many passions but it wasn't until college where he found himself stuck and discouraged on his pursuit of purpose and fulfillment. His sister Sara, noticed him cooking and gazing daily at Food Network episodes. Her encouragement led to him dropping out of traditional school in pursuit of a culinary education. It simply took a nudge from his sister and a leap of faith to reveal what he was really good at, cooking food!
Today, Chef Adam Glick has created a very unique brand and platform, that displays his love for food, creativity in the kitchen and always looking for the next adventure to embark on. With a massive social media following, Adam has been able to captivate a fan base through his cooking skills, charisma and the outdoors. To date, he has rolled out his own knife kit and most recently launched his first cookbook, Live Free, Eat Well. 
I am beyond proud of my best friend! I greatly appreciate him sharing his story with you all and I hope you find this episode enjoyable. 
P.S. Go buy his book, it is incredible!

Matt and Scott are back with another episode of Stay Ready: The Podcast. On this episode the guys sit down with current NHL player and Buffalo Sabres left wing, Mason Jobst. 

On this episode the guys dive right into getting to know Mason by opening up the episode talking about his upbringing in Speedway, Indiana. He details what it was like growing up in the town and before they know it, Matt (who played a number of years in Indiana) actually knows some of the same members of a family that Mason knows! 

They also talk about how he got started in hockey and what all he's been through chasing the dream of making it to the pros. Mason goes into a discussion about Team USA, wanting to play at Ohio State, playing in the finals of a league when he was advised not to do so due to injury and finally making the dream come true of playing D1 college hockey. 

Mason goes in depth about his time at Ohio State and not getting drafted which fueled him to work on becoming elite at being a better player. He then talks about being picked up by NHL teams but due to injuries and covid he was sent down to the minor leagues; he also recalls how he dealt with being sent down and how it made him better in the long run. 

Next, he discusses being traded to the New Jersey Devils, after almost requesting a trade due to not getting playing time. He talks about his experience with the team before going into the story about how he was later traded to San Jose. He tells a story about being the new guy on the team who wanted to grab dinner with teammates so he could get to know some of them but nobody ever responded to his group text. 

Lastly, he goes into how his faith has helped him through the ups and downs of becoming an NHL player and what's next for him since he signed with the Buffalo Sabres. 

Listen in as Matt and Scott dive right into finding out about Mason's upbringing, his love for hockey, the trials and tribulations he faced to play in college, the injuries and trades he's dealt with and how his faith has always kept him on the right path as embarks on another season in the league. 

On this episode of Stay Ready: The Podcast, Matt and Scott sit down with critically acclaimed producer Rob Harvell. Rob a Laurinburg, N.C. native picked up his ABC’s thanks to Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News and Stock Car Racing magazines.   Rob begin his career producing Wendell Scott: A Race Story, and went on to produce other projects, including the entire first season of ESPN’s “SEC Storied,” which included Herschel (Herschel Walker), 40 Minutes of Hell (Nolan Richardson), The Play That Changed College Football (1992 SEC Championship Football Game), and Lolo (Lolo Jones). Rob would add to his production portfolio with an array of other SEC Storied films. Among them were Miracle 3, The Book of Manning (Manning football family), Tigers United (Michael Sam), Dominique Belongs to Us (Dominique Wilkins), Thunder and Lightning (Will Clark, Rafael Palmeiro), Wuerffel’s Way (Danny Wuerffel), Miracles on the Plains (2013 Auburn Football), The Bo You Don’t Know (Bo Rein), Before They Were Cowboys (Jimmy Johnson, Jerry Jones, Barry Switzer), Stacy’s Gift (Stacy Lewis), The Walkoff, and No Experience Required (Texas A&M 12th Man Kickoff Team).

The guys open up the episode getting to know Rob's backstory, upbringing and what got him involved in producing and how he got his break into the business. Rob goes into detail about his all time love of sports that started when he was a small child and how one of his teachers told his parents he was watching too much television for his age. This leads the guys to talk about how that affected him and what happened because of that. After this discussion they transition to the topic of college and how he randomly chose his major (communications) while at Appalachian State because he felt it would be easy and would "get him on tv one day." 

Next, they get into the story about him getting his first Internship at Nascar after his guidance counselor told him he would not qualify due to his low GPA. He decided to reach out to the company himself and went in for an interview and crushed it resulting in him being hired. 

After interning there for a bit, he is given the opportunity to produce his first documentary. This documentary is really what gets everything going for Rob. He instantly falls in love with the idea of producing. 

From there, he leaves NASCAR and goes on to produce The Book of Manning about Peyton and his family, a Bigfoot documentary, several shows for Dana White and the UFC and much more.

The guys continue the conversation learning more about all the documentaries Rob has produced/ been a part of, some of his other interests, what he's hoping to do in the future with producing and so much more. 

We hope y'all find this episode of Stay Ready: The Podcast interesting and informative! See you next week!

Back with another episode of Stay Ready: The Podcast, Matt is joined by longtime co-host, Scott Meyer. On this episode the two of them catch up since they haven't been on a show together in a while. They immediately jump into a summer recap with each giving life updates including Scott's recent knee injury, Matt moving and getting a new podcast studio, what's been happening on the podcast and their takes on some national moments that recently occurred including Ingrid Andress butchering the National Anthem during the MLB Homerun Derby, Donald Trump's assassination attempt and news surrounding the upcoming football season and much more. 

Some of the highlights the guys touch on this episode: Scott having knee surgery and what the timeline for recovery looks like, his day to day life now since he can't work or drive, his recent song writing credit for a new release (Hunter Jordan's Redneck, White and Blue) and who else he's been working with at different writer rounds. 

Matt then touches on some of the recent episodes the podcast has had, along with some amazing guests including Dallas Alexander who currently holds the longest kill by a military sniper. Matt talks about how having him on the podcast was crucial especially with the assassination attempt on President Trump shortly after. Listeners got a firsthand experience of what it was like for Dallas during his time in the military and he even shared valuable knowledge from a snipers perspective that gave insight on everything surrounding the following events in our country. 

After a short political discussion they dive into talking about football season. The Hall of Fame Game is right around the corner and Scott asks Matt if he ever played in the game to which Matt tells the story of his experience with the Hall of Fame game and everything that happened surrounding the event. He also talks about joint practices and shares more stories about one practice sessions he had against the Patriots while he was with the Colts. 

They touch on the state of the NFL divisions and who they think will do well this season; most notably in the AFC South and AFC North. During their discussion of the AFC North, it leads them to talk about the rise of Browns kicker Dustin Hopkins. Matt shares some stories of their time with the Chargers, how Dustin thought he would be a Titan and how he earned a huge payday for his stellar kicking last season. 

They jump back into the AFC South topic and discuss Will Levis, CJ Stroud, Deandre Hopkins and much more before wrapping up an exciting episode of the Stay Ready: The Podcast.

On this episode of Stay Ready: The Podcast, Matt sits down with New Orleans Saints Defensive Back Ugo Amadi. Ugo, a Nashville native starred at John Overton High School before heading to The University of Oregon. While at Oregon, Amadi played in all 51 games and had 34 starts for the Ducks from 2015 to 2018 and finished with 165 total tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss for 54 yards, three sacks for 16 yards, eight interceptions for 122 yards and two touchdowns, 33 passes defended, four forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries on defense. He was also the winner of the Lombardi Award during the 2018 season. 

Matt and Ugo open the episode up with the story of how Ugo ended up at Oregon after initially committing to Ole Miss and then LSU. Many of Ugo's friends and family think he just committed and then left Nashville to head to the west coast but there's a lot more to it than that.  

As the episode progresses, they two of them talk about Ugo's time at Oregon, players he played with and some of the memories he had while at the university. 

After their lengthy discussion about all things Oregon football, Matt asks Ugo about his time so far in the NFL and what stadiums he's played in where it's complete madness before leading him to talk about New Orleans and how much culture the city has and how it's not like other stadiums and cities in the NFL. 

The conversation progresses to having Ugo talk about getting to play with his idol, Tyrann Mathieu and what he's learned from him while trying to replicate his style of play in order to have longevity in the league. 

They transition over to talking about the different quarterbacks that Ugo has been teammates with before discussing Patrick Mahomes greatness and how he played the playoffs and won a Super Bowl with a severe high ankle sprain. 

Matt then asks Ugo to talk about some of the toughest quarterbacks he's faced so far and he mentions Matthew Stafford and Aaron Rodgers and gives insight on what makes them so tough to prep for/ play against. 

Matt decides to move to the subject of off-season training and gets some insight on Ugo's workout regime when he's not in New Orleans and how it's great to be able to drive to his trainer while being able to head back home later to be with his family. They talk about how Nashville is slowly starting to become the hub for off-season workouts and almost everyone in the NFL is coming here to put work in before heading off to camp. 

This leads the two of them to talk about family life and Matt asks Ugo what the plan is for the upcoming birth of his son (will his girlfriend have the baby in Nashville or New Orleans). He also asks about her thoughts on New Orleans and if she is excited to be down there for the season. 

Matt then asks Ugo about his relationship with All Pro Jalen Ramsey who is from the Nashville area as well and Ugo gives an update on their current relationship as well as what he's learned from him over the years. 

The two of them then move into the topic of playing in Seattle and what it was like and what was similar as well as different during the periods of time that each was there. 

Ugo goes into an inspirational story about Bobby Wagner and how he really helped the younger guys out as they transitioned into playing in the NFL. He shares some stories about their friendship and how Bobby constantly motivated him to be early, outwork everyone in the building and constantly read in order to gain knowledge that would help throughout his career. 

As the episode slowly comes to an end, Ugo talks about getting cut, guys wanted to be traded because they aren't happy and drops some gems on the mindset you need to have in order to succeed and play multiple years in the league. 

To close out the episode, Matt asks Ugo to name his most difficult quarterbacks and wide receivers to face and why

Dallas Alexander grew up in a very small, Canadian town, where he spent most of his days outdoors and dreaming of hockey. When his junior hockey days came to an end, a co-worker out in the oil fields, introduced him to the JTF 2 Special Operations Force. With very little knowledge of this elite group, he became very intrigued and began his pursuit within the Canadian military, with the goal of joining this elite class. Within a short period of time, he made it through selections and found himself a part of the JTF 2 unit. Throughout the process, he gravitated to the sniper unit and excelled to become a tier 1 sniper within JTF 2.
Dallas and his team, made headlines when they claimed the World's furthest sniper kill shot while in Afghanistan. We take a deep dive into the events the led up to that shot, the mindset of a sniper, and all that goes into the teams objective.

Dallas decided to part ways from the military (we discuss why) and found a new passion in music. There was just something about live music that drew him in instantly. He has taken the same focus and determination, he did while pursuing the JTF 2 unit, and is now implementing that towards song writing and performing. This fall, we can expect his first album and he has recently released his debut single, "Adios Amigo," along with a music video, highlighting that notorious kill shot. 

In this compelling episode of "Stay Ready: The Podcast," Matt sits down with CJ Beathard, the talented quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Together, they embark on an in-depth conversation that traverses the highs and lows of their NFL careers, the excitement and anticipation of the upcoming training camp, and the unique dynamics of playing football in Jacksonville.

CJ shares his insights on the evolution of the NFL over the past seven years, drawing comparisons to Matt's playing days and shedding light on the significant changes within the league. Listeners will gain a fascinating glimpse into CJ's illustrious family background, where football and music intertwine—his grandfather, a renowned general manager; his father, a celebrated country songwriter; and his siblings, both rising country artists.

The episode delves into CJ's personal life and the profound impact of faith on his journey. He opens up about the heart-wrenching loss of his brother, navigating the grief, and finding solace and strength in his Christian faith. CJ's story of resilience and unwavering belief highlights how his faith shapes his identity beyond the football field, emphasizing the importance of being a disciple of Christ over merely winning games.

CJ also recounts his experiences of being drafted by the San Francisco 49ers, the challenges and triumphs of his NFL career, and the lessons learned along the way. His candid reflections on balancing professional success with personal values offer listeners an inspiring perspective on life, purpose, and perseverance.

Tune in to this episode for an engaging and heartfelt discussion that transcends sports. Matt and CJ's conversation is filled with genuine moments, insightful anecdotes, and powerful messages about faith, family, and the true essence of staying ready in every facet of life.