Start with Math. He attended university and was working on a Bachelors so I assume he has a base of some math knowledge. Computers are really just calculators and computing engines. Have him start doing basic programs to do basic math. No fancy libraries, GUI, IDE's, build tools, etc. needed. Either pick a language you know a lot about or pick one you also want to learn and learn together.
Once he can get basic math working (e.g. calculator via command line), build a UI for a calculator. Probably a good bet to go with some web front-end since those jobs are more common. Again no libraries or Javascript framework-of-the-month stuff, just basics.
From the background you said he was studying Physical Education... find some dataset that interests him in that area. Build a web app with that data that does something related, shows it, has simple forms to capture data, etc.
Once he's done that, he should have a good understanding of what programming is like and if he wants to continue and spend money on a degree.
The key is probably linking his interests with programming, which could naturally lead to some niche jobs in sports science using programming.