Communication Student, Alumnus Team Up On TV

Every fall on high school campuses across the country, football becomes the thing to do on Friday nights.

Local TV station KUSI News for the past 26 years has broadcast a highlights and interview show called “Prep Pigskin Report," also known as “PPR,” that canvases San Diego County every Friday night to bring high school football stories to tens of thousands of homes.

Cal State San Marcos may not have a football team, but a couple of communication students — one an alumnus and one about to be one — are heavily involved in the game locally as they comprise the “PPR” team that covers North County’s biggest game each week.

Matt Candelario is set to graduate from CSUSM this month. He handles the camera, interviews athletes and posts to social media before and after games.

The on-air talent Candelario films is Nick James, a Chula Vista native and former communication student from the class of 2001.

“Just being out there with Nick and it's like we got our own little locker room feel where we're prepping for the interview, we're prepping for the game,” said Candelario, who played high school football in the Bay Area. “Who do we got on this team? Who do we got on that team? That kind of thing. So just being out there on Fridays kind of gives you the nostalgia of being out there on Friday night as a player.”

When they’re not scrambling to put together segments on tight deadlines every Friday in the fall, the duo work together in various formats.

In addition to creating content, a lot of their collaboration is focused on giving Candelario high-level sports broadcast industry experience.

After answering an email from KUSI that was forwarded from the CSUSM communication department, Candelario immediately jumped in with editing training. He eased into the position with a veteran mentor but one who didn’t do much beyond camera work and posting to social media.

Candelario was eventually paired with James, who was losing his student producer at the time to graduate school.

According to James, Candelario was lacking solely in hands-on experience. What he clearly wasn’t missing was passion, an inquisitive attitude and a natural excitement for telling stories about local sports.

That eager spirit helped him quickly close the gaps in experience.

“Before he was just with the photographer and doing social media so he wasn't doing a lot of editing,” said James, who did an internship for ESPN after college. “He wasn't doing a lot of the hands-on gritty stuff that we do. Now with me, he has to do social, he has to shoot, he has to shoot a little bit when we need him to shoot and stuff like that. And he edits. He edits the games. If I tell him something, he knows what I'm talking about.”

James has an infectious energy fueled by working for accomplishments every step of the way. While playing football at MidAmerica Nazarene University in Olathe, Kan., he made the decision to quit the game and transfer to CSUSM. He wanted to study communication and be closer to home to begin a career in sports media.

While James learned a lot at CSUSM, he has forged a path in the field based on outworking his competition.

“He knows what he's talking about because you can just tell by the way he prepares and all the stuff he does when it's live,” Candelario said. “He never bats an eye. He’s always ready, and it's so cool to work with him. Ever since I started working with him, I just learned so much.”

Like most in the sports media industry, James has forged a meandering path that has included stops in small markets in Cheyenne, Wyo., Roswell, N.M., Lubbock and Lufkin, Texas, and Bakersfield before landing back in his hometown in April 2020.

Among his duties as Candelario’s friend and mentor is to offer advice on the road awaiting him.

“I just tell him to keep grinding,” James said. “Because he's already in a good position. He was one of the people that got hired to get extra hours each week on top of already working with me. So every Saturday he comes in and he works four or five extra hours that they allotted him to come in and do social media work. So I know he's got bigger aspirations in life. He’s already applying for jobs and whatnot, as he should be. I keep telling him to put your hat in everything because you have nothing to lose.”

In addition to cutting highlights, essentially producing segments and managing social media, Candelario’s experience has also included developing a podcast.

He also got the opportunity to meet one of his sports heroes this fall when he and James covered a Santa Fe Christian game. One member of the coaching staff was Super Bowl MVP quarterback Drew Brees.

“You're sitting there and Drew Brees is 10 feet from you, and you're like, this is Drew Brees,” Candelario said of his YouTube video interview. “I'd never been in a situation like that. I was just thinking, let me ask these questions without messing up. And then I messed up the first try. Thankfully because it's not live, it’s on YouTube, Drew said, 'You're good, man.' And then I just got right into it. He's such a nice guy. He was really cool with us.”

KUSI has several other CSUSM communication department graduates. Photojournalist Mike Millburn is from the class of 2007 and producer Nick Pollino graduated in 2018 after spending some time as the CHABSS ASI representative.

The “PPR” has another communication alumna in Bri Savant from the class of 2019. In addition to her work on the show, she is on-air talent for sports segments on KUSI and Fox 5 San Diego.

Another member of the CSUSM class of ’19 is Candelario’s brother Joseph, who was a criminology and justice studies major and is now working toward a career as a probation officer.

Candelario was drawn to CSUSM based on his brother’s positive experiences here. He’ll soon be the third person in his family to graduate from college, following in his brother and sister’s footsteps.

“He just said everybody's really welcoming at San Marcos,” said Candelario of Joseph’s experience on campus. “He never had a bad experience. He lived at the Quad just like I did. So we had a similar experience. He was telling me all that stuff before I went to San Marcos. And then once I actually got on campus, I saw everything, and I was like, ‘Yeah, this is where I want to be.’ ”

Candelario has parlayed his experience off campus with play-by-play stints on the CCAA Network with CSUSM’s baseball and softball programs.

Although he enjoyed the experience, he hopes his next steps in the industry will be reporting on sports such as a sideline reporter on one of the college networks like the ACC or SEC Network. He has fond memories of listening to the radio with his grandpa on the way to a game so a career in sports radio is a strong option.

But like his mentor James, Candelario knows it’s an industry that usually requires baby steps before huge leaps. Just getting a foot in the door is his focus now.

That door is already partially open thanks to the experience he’s gathered as a student here.

“It’s really important to try and look for different internships or look for any little door that's open to work in the space if this is something you want to do, especially for sports media, sports journalism,” he said. “I've used my KUSI internship, and that's how I was able to do the play-by-play for the baseball team the past two seasons here because I sent them my clips. This is what I want to do. So as if you know what you want to do and that's what you want to do and you're serious about it, just jump into it and don't be scared. You just got to get your feet wet no matter where it is.”

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314