{"id":241,"date":"2026-02-22T23:24:01","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T23:24:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/?p=241"},"modified":"2026-02-22T23:24:01","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T23:24:01","slug":"sport-professional-penpal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/2026\/02\/22\/sport-professional-penpal\/","title":{"rendered":"Sport Professional Penpal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40670\/2026\/02\/Nick-Headshot.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"819\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40670\/2026\/02\/Nick-Headshot-1024x819.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-242\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40670\/2026\/02\/Nick-Headshot-1024x819.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40670\/2026\/02\/Nick-Headshot-300x240.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40670\/2026\/02\/Nick-Headshot-768x615.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40670\/2026\/02\/Nick-Headshot-833x667.png 833w, https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40670\/2026\/02\/Nick-Headshot-192x154.png 192w, https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40670\/2026\/02\/Nick-Headshot.png 1522w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This is Nick Meyer, a Navy Veteran, Husband, and the Outside Linebackers Graduate Assistant Coach at San Jos\u00e9 State University. Nick served 5 years in the U.S. Navy before getting out, finishing his Bachelor&#8217;s degree in Sports Management, and transitioning into collegiate football coaching. Nick started as the full-time safety coach at California Lutheran University, which also happens to be the college from which he earned his bachelor&#8217;s degree. After graduating, he moved to San Jos\u00e9 to perform the duties as the Outside Linebackers Graduate Assistant Coach in hopes of moving up and earning a head coach position. I was drawn to Nick because of his positions in California, which is where I am from and hope to go back to after graduation. I also relate because I am almost done with my bachelor&#8217;s degree in Sports Management. I followed and contacted Nick on LinkedIn and told him about this pen pal assignment I had for my communications class, and asked if he would be willing to email back and forth, providing a little information on his day-to-day tasks and any questions I may have for him, present and future. Nick was very quick in getting back to me and stated he would love to help me with this assignment. I did not mention it to him, but I am in the Navy and am about to get out as well, so that was a huge point in my choosing him for this assignment. Nick was awesome in his response and quickness because I had messaged a plethora of people just in case someone did not respond, and he was on top of it! I can&#8217;t wait to get to ask him more questions, not only about his job and responsibilities, but his journey on getting to where he is. I think Nick will be a lifelong contact, if not friend, after this assignment, and I&#8217;m grateful to have made this initial connection with him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40670\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-22-at-6.23.12\u202fPM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"990\" height=\"1002\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40670\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-22-at-6.23.12\u202fPM.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-243\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40670\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-22-at-6.23.12\u202fPM.png 990w, https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40670\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-22-at-6.23.12\u202fPM-296x300.png 296w, https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40670\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-22-at-6.23.12\u202fPM-768x777.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40670\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-22-at-6.23.12\u202fPM-833x843.png 833w, https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40670\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-22-at-6.23.12\u202fPM-190x192.png 190w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 990px) 100vw, 990px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40670\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-22-at-6.23.20\u202fPM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"988\" height=\"746\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40670\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-22-at-6.23.20\u202fPM.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-244\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40670\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-22-at-6.23.20\u202fPM.png 988w, https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40670\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-22-at-6.23.20\u202fPM-300x227.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40670\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-22-at-6.23.20\u202fPM-768x580.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40670\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-22-at-6.23.20\u202fPM-833x629.png 833w, https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40670\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-22-at-6.23.20\u202fPM-192x145.png 192w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 988px) 100vw, 988px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is Nick Meyer, a Navy Veteran, Husband, and the Outside Linebackers Graduate Assistant Coach at San Jos\u00e9 State University. Nick served 5 years in the U.S. Navy before getting out, finishing his Bachelor&#8217;s degree in Sports Management, and transitioning into collegiate football coaching. Nick started as the full-time safety coach at California Lutheran University, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/2026\/02\/22\/sport-professional-penpal\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Sport Professional Penpal<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30667,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wds_primary_category":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30667"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":245,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241\/revisions\/245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianarichardsonsportjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}