FARGO — The last time Christian Dudzik was a part of the North Dakota State football program, he was a standout in the Bison’s secondary, nicknamed the “Wolf Pack.” That was in 2014, and Dudzik left the program with four Division I FCS national championship rings.
Last month he returned to university, only this time he is part of a team with a different nickname: “The Night Owls”.
As the athletic department’s director of creative content, it’s not unusual for the multimedia team in general, and Dudzik in particular, to work late into the night. It’s been 10 years since Dudzik wore a football uniform, but that time hasn’t dampened the excitement on game day.
He’s back with the team. When the Bison play East Tennessee State in Johnson City, Tennessee, late Saturday afternoon, Dudzik will be there with his camera and video equipment.
“The smells on game day just take you back into the game and I definitely had the adrenaline,” Dudzik said last week of the home game against Tennessee State. “It’s really a new world for me, but it’s weird because a lot of things are familiar and I understand how a lot of things work here. Yeah, sometimes I just want to put the camera down, give the guys a smack on the head and get into drills.”
David Samson/Forum Communications Co.
From the looks of things, he’ll be using his camera to get close-ups of players. He’ll be doing wide-angle shots. Anything with a camera is not out of the question. It’s his first full-time job in the video business after several years in personal training, and it feels like he’s doing something he deserves.
It’s been a hobby since he was growing up in Omaha, Nebraska, filming his brother with an old camcorder. Kyle Dudzik was probably 6 years old at the time when Christian edited a video of himself throwing a basketball from one end of the court to the other and the ball flying into the basket.
While at Omaha Skutt Catholic High School, Dudzik edited a video taken by a Skutt teacher at football games and turned it into a highlight tape.
“It was the first time I really felt artistic flow,” he said. “I was just in the zone when I made that video. I always found myself realizing that this happened just hours ago, but now we have it forever. I think that’s really powerful.”
Now he’ll be editing Bison games that can be archived forever. In taking the job, it helped that Tim Polasek was hired as head coach — Dudzik was a Bison player when Polasek was an assistant at NDSU.
“I didn’t know what it would be like to work with him, but I knew what it was like to be a player for him,” Dudzik said. “I didn’t know exactly what to expect, but with him it’s been everything I hoped it would be. He’s given me free rein for the most part and trusts me not to come out with stuff that puts our program in a bad light.”
Polasek has been a busy PR machine since the day he was hired. Last week, Dudzik shot a promotional video of Polasek getting fans excited about the new Stampede March team before the game against Tennessee State. The video took six takes to shoot.
“After the third take, I said, ‘The relationship we have is good, but let’s do one more, take a few deep breaths and do it again,'” Dudzik said. “The last take was great. He really loves communicating with the fans and understands the value of what we can do here to engage and engage the fans.”
The content can be found on the major social media platforms X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, YouTube and Facebook.
Forum file photo
“I look at and consider this as art,” Dudzik said. “I think the best artists pay attention to the vision and the storytelling, deliver that and let the fans decide what they value.”
Shortly after graduating with a degree in sports management, Dudzik began personal training with former NDSU player Cole Jirik in South Fargo. After a few years, Dudzik returned to his hometown of Omaha and did the same thing there.
Nevertheless, the video fever never left me.
“I was kind of in denial for a long time,” he said. “I realized I probably should have been doing this all along, but I was very grateful for the opportunities that personal training gave me.”
The return to Fargo began with a phone call from Wes Offerman of NDSU’s sports information office, the director of creative communications and strategy. Dudzik’s position had been vacant for about a year as the school struggled to find a qualified candidate.
When Dudzik played for the Bison, he interned under Kasey Byers, NDSU’s former multimedia coordinator. It was Byers who began moving the athletic department into the video world.
After Offerman called, Dudzik reached out to Byers, now senior director of creative services at the University of Washington, to discuss the position, knowing that Byers would help if needed.
“I think that’s always been his calling,” Byers said. “He’s always thought differently than others. He thinks deep and that was clear to me when I was there. I’m telling you, once he understands how to execute the vision in his head and expand his basic skills, he’s going to be different. Christian hasn’t even scratched the surface of what he can do.”
The two have stayed in touch and continue to share ideas. They spoke Saturday night after the Bisons beat Tennessee State 52-3 at Gate City Bank Field in the Fargodome, not talking much about the game but more about video strategy.
Dudzik used a camera on the catwalk near the dome for a postgame video. Two weeks ago, the University of Colorado athletic department had three people shoot video of an away game for the first time, a sign to Dudzik that it is willing to invest in the process.
“It shows me that they value what we do here,” he said.
Generally, multimedia assistants Ben Cohen and Jake Morgan post the short stories on social media while Dudzik creates the game recaps. Dudzik has also taken an interest in reviewing archived videos from the 1940s and 1960s, as well as the title teams of the 1980s.
He looked at clips of his teams from 2011 to 2014 and found a recording of his former teammate Esley Thorton on the sidelines during the 2014 national title win over Illinois State. Thorton sealed the victory with an interception.
“He was in tears. I sent it to him and he said he had never seen it before,” Dudzik said. “It was a great way to reconnect with these guys.”
They include current Bison assistant coaches Carlton Littlejohn, Devin Klieman and Jared Taylor, who were with the program when Dudzik played.
You can see Dudzik as a football player, but you can’t take away his feeling. Sometimes, to escape the office, he comes to training to get to know the players better.
“Christian was shaped by Bison football,” Byers said. “His discipline, winning mentality, influential leadership and pride in this place will carry him even further. He will be the last one to turn off the lights in his office.”
Like a real night owl.
Jeff would like to dispel the notion that he was around when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, but he has been a reporter for Forum Communications for three decades. The son of a reporter and an English teacher, and brother of a reporter, Jeff has worked for the Jamestown Sun, Bismarck Tribune and, since 1990, The Forum, where he has covered North Dakota State athletics since 1995.
Jeff has covered all nine of NDSU’s Division I FCS national football titles and has written three books: “Horns Up,” “North Dakota Tough” and “Covid Kids.” He is the radio host of “The Golf Show with Jeff Kolpack” from April through August.
