THOMAS COUNTY, GA (WTXL) — Thomas University freshman Dominik Jelski traveled from Poland to play for the Nighthawks after coach Dan Pippin's six years coaching in Europe.
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Thomas University football has undergone plenty of changes in year one under Dan Pippin. But one of the most unique additions to the Nighthawks' program started more than 5,000 miles away in Poland.
Before taking over at Thomas University, Pippin spent six years coaching across Europe — including the last two with the Białystok Lowlanders in Poland.
When he returned to the U.S. to lead the Nighthawks, one of his former players followed him across the Atlantic.
"I don't even think about it; I can play here until Coach Pippen told me, 'Hey, you can play here. You can do it.' … I want to say thank you for Coach Pippen. He gave me a chance to be there… That's like a dream still," freshman defensive lineman Dominik Jelski said.
That dream brought Jelski from Poland to South Georgia — trading football with the Lowlanders for his first taste of the American college game.
The transition has come with some adjustments.
"I like this place, but it's too hot for me… America still like in movies… I feel like I'm in the movie right now," Jelski said.
Pippin says his six years coaching overseas have opened another recruiting avenue for the Nighthawks, and Jelski may only be the beginning.
"Europe's an untapped market, but… our first place is gonna be South Georgia and North Florida. So we'll get a couple kids from Europe every year, I think, with the connections that we have and we've made through the six years that I was over in Europe," Pippin said.
Pippin says there have already been discussions about holding football camps in Europe — but the relationship between Thomas University and the Lowlanders is about more than recruiting.
That relationship was on display at Thomas University's home opener, when representatives from the Lowlanders made the trip from Poland to Thomasville, where the university recognized the international connection on the field.
"It's a relationship that I'm happy we have, and I think we're gonna build on it… We're gonna hopefully take some of those strategies that they use and be able to market what we do here the same way. So I think it can be a great relationship and a two-way relationship between both of us," Pippin said.
Pippin described the Lowlanders as a standout organization from his time in Europe.
"By far the Lowlanders were the best group of people that I worked with, management-wise and then player-wise. They were just great," Pippin said.
For Jelski, the opportunity represents something bigger than one player's journey.
"That's like a dream every kid who's played football in Poland dreams about something like that to try it like this is hard; this is something new," Jelski said.
The Nighthawks return to the field Saturday, Sept. 26th, for their Homecoming game — another milestone in Pippin's first season leading Thomas University.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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