On Saturday, former Tennessee football kicker Chase McGrath hosted his first ever punting and kicking camp alongside high school teammate, former Colorado State and current Tennessee Titans punter Ryan Stonehouse.

The camp took place at Lipscomb Academy in Nashville as the pair of accomplished specialists aimed to spend ample time with each camper to improve their game.

Stonehouse's father, Paul Stonehouse, an All-American punter at Stanford was also on hand to help.

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"My takeaway really was first off just very impressed with how the kids responded," McGrath said. "This camp is very unique. For the most part, it's very instructional. We were going to do a lot of teaching and coaching and learning. For these kids to come out here and everybody had the attitude to learn and be vulnerable and be okay with making mistakes and wanting to get better."

Being confident in the face of mistakes was a key of the camp. It's impossible to play perfectly, so rebounding from failure is important.

This is even more pertinent when taking to account the camp atmosphere. Junior high, high school and college players took instruction and applied it to their game. This inherently comes with shortcomings as you go through the process.

"The best thing that's come of this camp is all the kids are listening and really absorbing," Ryan Stonehouse said. "We really wanted to make it so they're okay to fail. This is a camp that's unique because it's not just like a ranking camp, it's something that's a learning tool for them. They can be vulnerable when they're out here."

The first period of the camp was the hands on instruction. McGrath and the Stonehouses individually worked with kids to help them improve in certain areas.

Following the lunch break, the groups of campers reconvened to watch film and ask questions. After a period of warming back up, competition began.

First punters took turns seeing who could reach specific distances and hang times before one was left standing. Ultimately, it was Brett Hughes of Lindsey Wilson College in NAIA who won the punting portion.

"Just working on fundamentals," Hughes said. "And keeping that solid throughout however far you go in your career and whatever stage you're on."

Then, they competed in field goal kicking that placed them increasingly farther back and at different angles. Class of 2024 Stafford Roditis won that competition.

"It was definitely worth our time," Roditis said. "They gave really good instruction. Just the way they break it down from a player perspective instead of just being a coach who hasn't really kicked or anything. It's really good to be relatable and know what you're struggling with."

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To wrap things up, the instructors went over the recruiting process and detailed their experiences. Parents and players responded with questions to gain a deep insight into the next step of their careers.

Being able to experience experience this with his dad makes the camp even more enriching for Ryan Stonhouse. He grew up learning from his dad who taught at plenty of his own camps throughout the years.

While they both admitted it makes them feel old to be here together now, Ryan Stonehouse did acknowledge how cool it was to do this the day before Father's Day.

"This is a full circle moment," Ryan Stonehouse said. "There's pictures that I have when I was younger running around, the ball was probably bigger than I was at the time. Now, just so happens to be around Father's Day and everything, and I'm like, what a cool, come out and celebrate Father's Day and everything."

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McGrath also made sure to don plenty of orange in his return to the Volunteer State. Decked out in a Tennessee hat, team-issued shorts and Vol-branded shoes, he used his experience playing in Knoxville to help teach the campers.

Before he hit the game-winning field goal to down Alabama in 2022, he missed an extra-point. He didn't let this bother him, though, and mentally flushed it to stay composed and hit what would go down as one of the biggest kicks in school history.

"I didn't really color coordinate correctly. I totally forgot we're wearing red shirts," McGrath said. "As I was packing to fly here, I was like yeah, I gotta bring the Tennessee hat, gotta bring the Tennessee shoes, gotta bring the Tennessee shorts. Come on, we're in Tennessee, I gotta rock the Vols, I love the Vols. And then I get the red shirt. At least anybody could find me if they were looking for me."

With the first camp going even better than McGrath or the Stonehouses could've planned, there are already plans to do more. Not only in Nashville, but possible back in their home-state of California and in Knoxville.

There is no cemented plans yet, but multiple camps in 2025 are a strong possibility.

"The future of the camp, obviously, we're going to try to get one going in Knoxville next year," McGrath said. "Me and Stonehouse want to go back home to southern California and have one at our high school at Mater Dei next year, as well. This was a great learning experience in terms of numbers. I think this is, with me, Ryan and his dad being here, this was the perfect amount of kids. If we get more kids, just because of how in depth we go with them, we probably either need to bring more coaches or split it up into multiple days. In terms of the future of the camp, we definitely want to do it year after year and I had the most amazing time out here today."

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