For the 17th Underground Huddle, we welcomed Coach "Bones" Fassel, associate head coach and special teams coordinator for the Tennessee Titans. Widely regarded as one of the premier special teams minds in the league, Fassel has built a reputation for aggressive, creative strategies that change the momentum of a game in an instant. Prior to joining the Titans, Fassel spent several years as the special teams coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys and the Los Angeles Rams, where he even served as the Rams’ interim head coach in 2016. Throughout his career, he has consistently led top-tier units, earning praise for his ability to develop young players into all-pro talent.

Recorded May 2026.

For the 16th Underground Huddle, we welcomed back keynote speaker and author Alan Stein, Jr.! Recorded December 2025.

For the 15th Underground Huddle, our guest was Caleb Kimbrough, the head basketball coach at Hampden-Sydney College and a current client of ours at BUILD. Now entering his seventh season as head coach, Coach Kimbrough has led his team to three straight 20-win seasons. Two years ago, the Tigers posted a 31-3 record and made it to the national championship game in the Division III tournament. With multiple championships, All-Americans, records, and coach of the year awards to his name, Coach Kimbrough is the definition of a Disciplined Leader. Not because of the accolades, but because he prioritizes the most important things in his life: his wife, Marlee, and his three children, Nash, Shep, and Rae O’Grady. Recorded September 2025.

For the 13th Underground Huddle, our guest was Dr. Chris Howard. Ben met Dr. Howard in 2009 as a sophomore at Hampden-Sydney College when he became the President at the school and since then he has been the President at Robert Morris University and is now the Executive Vice President at Arizona State University. Dr. Howard played running back at the U.S. Air Force Academy, was on the College Football Playoff Selection Committee, and boasts a long list of leadership accomplishments. Most importantly, Dr. Howard is a husband to Barbara and father to Cohen and Joshua. Recorded March 2025.

For the 11th Underground Huddle, our guest was Shaka Smart, the head coach for the Marquette University basketball team. He has been the leader for the Golden Eagles since 2021, most recently leading them to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Division I tournament in 2024. Marquette has won both a Big East regular season title and a Big East tournament championship under Coach Smart. Prior to Marquette, Smart served as the head coach for the University of Texas and for Virginia Commonwealth University. At VCU, Smart and his famed “Havoc” defense earned a trip to the Final Four in 2011. It was the first Final Four appearance in VCU history. Coach is known by many for his relentless energy and his ability to build relationships with his staff and players.

For the 10th Underground Huddle, our guest was Brennan Marion, who is one of the country’s most highly regarded assistant coaches, having spent time at multiple Division 1 universities. He earned his first coordinator role at Howard University, followed by stints at William & Mary, Hawaii, Pittsburgh, and Texas before landing his current role at UNLV. At Pittsburgh, Marion coached receiver Jordan Addison, who was drafted in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings and at Texas, Marion coached receiver Xavier Worthy, who was selected in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. Coach Marion has faced multiple challenges and setbacks throughout his life. He had to change schools almost on a yearly basis growing up, had friends get shot, a mother that got arrested, and was homeless for part of his college football career. Not to mention, Marion suffered multiple season-ending knee injuries both in college and in the NFL. A record-setting receiver at Tulsa University, Marion is today known as the innovator of the “Go-Go Offense.” As it relates to building a team, Brennan likes to say that “How you play without the football determines how much you love your teammates.”

For the 9th Underground Huddle we welcomed Jeremy Foley, who served as the Director of Athletics for the University of Florida from 1992 – 2016. Foley’s career path was a unique one, having started as an intern in 1976 and moving through the ranks all the way up to his appointment as AD…all at the same school. Foley was responsible for hiring two of the most successful head coaches in college sports history: Urban Meyer (football) and Billy Donovan (basketball). During his tenure at UF, Meyer won two national titles and coached players such as Tim Tebow, Brandon Spikes, Maurkice Pouncey, and Mike Pouncey. Donovan also won two national titles and served as the head coach for Al Horford and Joakim Noah. 

Under Foley’s leadership, the University of Florida became the first college program in history to own both the men’s basketball and football national titles in the same calendar year. In total, Foley led the Gators to 27 national championships and it’s no surprise that Foley has won multiple Athletic Director of the Year awards in his career. According to University of Florida’s athletics’ website, Foley “handled virtually every aspect of the $119.3 million athletic program during his athletic administrative career.”

For the 8th Underground Huddle we welcomed JUSTIN FUENTE, a 47-year-old football coach whose career has included stops at Illinois State, TCU, Memphis, and Virginia Tech. At TCU as Offensive Coordinator, Fuente helped lead the Horned Frogs to an undefeated season and a victory in the 2011 Rose Bowl. As the head coach at Memphis, Fuente led his team to an American Athletic Conference Championship in 2014 and in 2016, Fuente led Virginia Tech to a Coastal Division Championship in the Atlantic Coast Conference. As a player, Fuente played quarterback at Oklahoma and Murray State and following the 1999 season, he was named the Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Year. He still holds the conference record for most passing yards in a single season. Born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Fuente currently resides in Dallas, Texas with his wife and three daughters. 

For the 7th Underground Huddle we welcomed Josh Wells, a 10-year NFL Veteran who currently plays for the Jacksonville Jaguars. A former high school quarterback, Wells walked-on to James Madison University where he quickly earned a scholarship. At JMU, Wells played multiple positions on the offensive and defensive lines. In 2014, Wells signed with the Jaguars as an undrafted free agent. In 2018, Wells was a part of the Jaguars team that made it to the AFC Championship Game where they fell to Tom Brady’s New England Patriots. In 2019, Wells signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and played in all four playoff games during the team’s Super Bowl winning season in 2020. In 2023, Wells reunited with the Jaguars, signing a new contract in April 2023. Wells’ ability to play multiple positions on the offensive line, his desire to be a team player by mentoring younger players, and his resilience in responding to adversity – including a torn patellar tendon last season – has contributed to a career marked by longevity and inspiration. A family man and one of strong faith, Wells resides in Jacksonville with his wife, Morgan, one daughter, and two sons. 

For the 6th Underground Huddle we welcomed Rob Ehsan, assistant basketball coach at Stanford University. Coach Ehsan was formerly the head coach at University of Alabama-Birmingham, where he was one of the youngest head coaches in NCAA Division 1 history. Rob also leads the Graduate Assistant Leadership Academy, which teaches skills to prepare GAs for the coaching profession. 

For the 5th Underground Huddle we welcomed Glenn Caruso, who is the head football coach at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. Coach Caruso has been named the national coach of the year an amazing six times. Since 2008, he’s won over 80% of his games and even more impressive, he improved his won-loss record in each of his first seven seasons as a head college football coach. St. Thomas found so much success at the Division 3 level that in 2021 they competed in Division 1’s Pioneer Football League, winning 7 of 10 games in their first season against scholarship programs. 

For the 4th Underground Huddle we welcomed Alan Stein, Jr., who is a performance coach, consultant, speaker, and author who spent 15 years working with the highest-performing basketball players on the planet including Kobe Bryant, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant. Outside of the sports world, Alan has worked with many large businesses including American Express, Pepsi, and Starbucks. A coach with a passion for helping others change behaviors, Alan is the host of the Raise Your Game Podcast which follows up his well-known book Raise Your Game: High Performance Secrets from the Best of the Best.

For the 3rd Underground Huddle we welcomed Kevin Eastman, who was a head and assistant college basketball coach for over 20 years, and an NBA assistant coach and executive from 2004 – 2016 with the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Clippers. In 2008, Coach Eastman became an NBA Champion when his Celtics defeated Kobe Bryant’s & Phil Jackson’s Lakers in 6 games. On the 2008 team was head coach Doc Rivers and players Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and more. A lifelong learner, Coach Eastman moved right into speaking and writing after his coaching career. In 2018, his book Why The Best Are The Best was published. His many experiences with THE BEST are recounted in the book and those experiences combined with Coach Eastman’s wisdom quickly made the book a best seller. 

For the 2nd Underground Huddle, we welcomed Jesse Grapes, President of Benedictine Schools of Richmond. Mr. Grapes committed to serve in the United States Marine Corps the day after 9/11. He served as an infantry platoon commander and deployed for three combat tours of duty in Iraq, earning the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart for his actions. In his Underground Huddle talk he used a 6-minute video from HBO’s Vice News to describe the Battle of Fallujah in 2004, where he and his team used creative on-the-go thinking to ultimately destroy what was known as the “Hell House.” Encouraging the necessity to build “headspace and timing” into the personal schedules of the listeners, Grapes said that the way he does this today is through prayer, physical exercise, and continual learning. Mr. Grapes compares what we refer to as Disciplined Leaders to the “Ma Deuce.” A nickname for the M2 Browning machine gun, Grapes says that you can’t hide from a Ma Deuce and its impact should be powerful; however, like a true Disciplined Leader, it doesn’t operate effectively without proper headspace and timing.

For the 1st Underground Huddle, the guest speaker was Deane Cheatham III. A family-first man, Deane has held many leadership positions in his professional career. Deane has been an owner of Hometown Realty – the largest & highest-producing locally owned firm in Central Virginia – since the early 90s. He spent many years as a coach himself, training many other business owners under the Mike Ferry Organization. Deane heads up the Hometown Realty training program, which trains hundreds of aspiring business owners each year. Deane has also been a lead instructor for SEAL Team Physical Training in Richmond, and has coached many of his children’s youth league teams. He has battled through and overcome many injuries in order to stay discipline to his fitness and health goals – a consistent early morning routine he’ll tell you is one of the cornerstones of his success. In his free time, Deane likes to hunt, flip houses, and hang out with his wife and children at one of their vacation houses at the beach, river, or the mountains. Despite being what some would refer to as “busy,” through discipline and preparation Deane still finds more than enough time to spend with his three children, all of which graduated from or currently attend James Madison University. His oldest son played football at JMU and now coaches at the collegiate level, his daughter is on the front lines of the Coronavirus as a nurse in Richmond, and his youngest son is an aspiring commercial project manager and a current Duke football player.