After a divorce, many people wonder whether they'll ever build the kind of family life they imagined. Dave Ryan got a second chance.

On this episode of The Back 9, the longtime broadcaster joins us to talk about balancing a career that kept him on the road with fatherhood, what he learned from his first marriage, and how remarriage opened the door to a new chapter he never expected. He and his wife had kids, then fostered kids, and the eventually they adopted 2 kids, twins, expanding their family in ways neither of them could have imagined.

It's a conversation about second chances in romance, showing up for the people you love, and discovering that some of life's greatest gifts arrive the second time around, on this episode of the Back 9.

If you're in the middle of a divorce, or thinking about divorce right now, you need to listen to this episode. Not after it's over. Not when you've figured everything out. Right. Now.

Geoff Fountain is in the middle of an 18-year relationship that is coming to an end. Two kids. A shared life. And now he's rewriting his future. And at one point, Geoff turns the tables and starts asking us questions. Questions we've both had to answer ourselves.

How do you know you're doing the right thing?
What gets easier?
What do you wish you had known?

There are no villains in this story. It's ust an honest conversation about marriage, divorce, co-parenting, uncertainty, and what comes next.

For any man trying to navigate one of the hardest seasons of his life, this is a conversation worth hearing.

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Instagram: @Back9_Podcast

Our sponsor Hammer and Nails, is currently offering a $120 gift card for $100. They also have a Spoil Him Right curated gift Box. Great father's day gifts. Get one at Hammer and Nails, with 4 locations in Central Florida.

This Father's Day week, we're doing something we've never done before.
For the first time in Back 9 history, we have a full episode with just the two of us.
No guest. No expert. No one else to play off of… It's just two guys sitting across from each other talking about what it feels like with our kids grown and living on their own, and looking back at the fathers we tried to be.

We talk about raising daughters and the ways they challenged us, changed us, and taught us things we never expected to learn. We revisit divorce, long-distance parenting, the moments we got right, and the moments we'd give anything to do over. There are stories in this episode we've never shared before. Some are funny. Some are raw. Several still make us emotional all these years later.

If you've ever wondered whether you did enough as a parent, if you've carried regret, or if you're trying to build a stronger relationship with your kids today than you had yesterday, this one's for you.

Happy Father's Day from The Back 9.

Contact Dennis & Josh

Instagram: @Back9_Podcast

Our sponsor Hammer and Nails, is currently offering a $120 gift card for $100. They also have a Spoil Him Right curated gift Box. Great father's day gifts. Get one at Hammer and Nails, with 4 locations in Central Florida.

Season 13 starts with an announcement:

Over the past year, we've been building something bigger than a podcast — a book about how men heal, rebuild, and find healthy relationships after midlife divorce. It's now in front of major publishers, and the response has reinforced something we've believed from the beginning: Men need hope.

This season will continue that conversation through stories about relationships, fatherhood, purpose, health, and second chances.We also talk summer plans, Bills vs. Bears, engagement parties, the strange ways sports loyalty gets passed through families, and our partnership with Hammer & Nails.

A new season. A lot in motion.

Time to make the turn.

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Instagram: @Back9_Podcast

This season started with a daughter getting engaged, included 3 graduations, and ended with a toast by the campfire.

That's what the 19th Hole is for.

Every season, we take a breath and look back at the conversations that stayed with us. And this season had plenty.

We talked about the pull of the wrong relationships after divorce. Knowing yourself before saying "I do." The discipline of co-parenting without letting ego take over.

And we led off with Misty. A story still being written, and one we're grateful to have witnessed up close.

Somewhere along the way there was Guinness, Sting, law school milestones and a trip to St. John, but Season 12 is in the books.

So here's to everybody who spent part of their season with us. Time to split the G….on the Back 9

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Paul Pabst has spent nearly 20 years producing The Dan Patrick Show, so yes…this episode has stories.

Chris Rock refusing to leave the studio.
Clint Eastwood at Pebble Beach.
Dale Jr. admitting he got into racing because he wanted his dad to talk to him.

But the story that stays with you?
Paul named his daughter Peyton after Walter Payton. And years later, he's standing at a Super Bowl party telling that story to Walter's son…trying not to cry.

This episode is about the people who shape us, the mentors who push us, and the things we carry into fatherhood, teaching, work and legacy.

(And there's some behind-the-scenes tales behind the Dan Patrick Show along the way)

It's a lean back and listen episode of The Back 9.

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Instagram: @Back9_Podcast

Ryan Vesce played professional hockey in six countries. He also went through back surgery, hip surgery, chronic pain and the kind of physical wear that ends a lot of careers early.

What changed everything? Frustration. And then desperation.

We talk with Ryan about hitting a point where "manage it" stopped being a good enough answer. So he and his strength coach started pulling best-in-practice ideas from practitioners in all the different countries he playeid in, just to keep him on the ice.

That mindset eventually became Matterhorn Fit and his post-playing passion.

This episode isn't about hockey.
It's about refusing to accept that broken is permanent on a new episode of The Back 9.

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Instagram: @Back9_Podcast

Most people think culture just happens. But it doesn't. This week on The Back 9, we sit down with Herbie Lopez, GM of Toyota of Hollywood, to talk about how he's built one of the top-performing dealerships in the country—and why the numbers aren't the point.

Herbie shares how he got into the business after losing his father at 19, the influence of his uncle Tony, and what he's learned about leading a thousand-person operation. We get into what it really takes to change a culture, keep it intact, and measure success in ways that go beyond sales.

The conversation turns when he talks about hitting the same age his father was when he passed. That's where things started to shift—health, time, and how he looks at the work.

If you're leading people, building something, or starting to think about what all of it adds up to, this one will resonate… on The Back 9.

Contact Dennis & Josh

Instagram: @Back9_Podcast