Alumni Thrive in Professional Sports Roles

Not one, not two, but three recent Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences graduates are making an impact in pro sports just a few years after earning their Baylor diplomas — in athletic training, nutrition sciences and physical therapy.

After joining Baylor’s Master of Athletic Training program in 2018, Brynn Johnson, M.A.T. ’20, worked with the BU football team and began to picture a future in sports. Encouraged by faculty, she applied for NFL internships, landing roles with the Los Angeles Rams, Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs (and was a part of their 2024 Super Bowl run earlier this year.)

“My biggest takeaway from all of my experiences, including my time at Baylor, is to be faithful to God and to yourself,” says Johnson. “If you can do that, you will be alright.”

Jeremy Chiang, M.S. ’15, completed short stints at Iowa State and Florida before returning to Baylor, where he spent two years helping lead Baylor’s sports nutrition program. That training and experience led to opportunities with Major League Baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays, where he eventually became head of nutrition for the team. Now Chiang is a major league performance nutrition coordinator for the New York Mets, where he oversees clinical and performance nutrition.

“[My professors at Baylor] would always challenge me to think outside the box,” Chiang recalls. “It was an open, family-based environment. The professors were all about helping you and challenging you. They would never say no to any questions you have or any interests you have.”

Through nternships in college athletics, the WNBA and NBA, Zac Howe, D.P.T. ’19, learned the importance of physical therapy. He completed a sports residency in Sacramento, California, before landing his dream job with the NBA’s Sacramento Kings. Today, as head strength coach, Howe integrates his physical therapy education into his work — while also serving as an adjunct instructor for Baylor’s D.P.T. program.

“There’s so much that I use from physical therapy in the weight room,” says Howe. “Through the Baylor PT program and clinical practice, I gained the confidence to take my job to the next level. It makes me a better practitioner.”