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Although the United States is a country of newcomers, the NFL is largely led by US-born athletes. Just 5% of participants are born abroad, and most of them step into the sport by going to university in the United States. Genuine outsiders are rare, and coaches from abroad are particularly rare, which renders James Cook’s journey exceptional.

Cook’s Surprising Path to the League

For the past six months, Cook has been in charge of player development at the Cleveland Browns. That’s an accomplishment in itself, but it’s extraordinary given he was raised in Surrey, is in his twenties, and never participated in professional sport. Cook first saw the NFL as a teenager while surfing channels with his father and came across what he described as a “strange and amazing” sport. He started playing in his area and soon aspired to become the first NFL QB from Europe. He progressed to playing for Great Britain, but his dreams to attend college in the US proved too expensive.

“I was scooping popcorn, wiping seats, making burgers, handling a bit of everything. Any time the NFL guys wanted me, I would adjust my shifts and help out. Being a quarterback, the key skill I had was I could pass. So when they trained with players, I’d appear around London and throw the ball to them. I didn’t get paid, but they’d often get me lunch.”

It was here that he encountered Aden Durde, who had periods with the Panthers and Chiefs during his career before he established the International Player Pathway program in that year with two-time Super Bowl winner Umenyiora. When Durde became part of the staff at the Atlanta Falcons, making history as the first-ever UK full-time coach in NFL annals, Cook assumed control of the IPP. “I had a lot of fun with it, coaching some really interesting guys,” he recalls. “We had Rees-Zammit; Travis Clayton, who got drafted by the Bills; Smyth, the specialist from the Emerald Isle who’s now with the New Orleans. I went to Australia to train aspiring athletes from around the Pacific to get them into the US college system, like what I wanted to do.”

Transitioning to NFL Coaching

Like Durde before him, Cook transitioned from working with international athletes to joining the NFL. “Cleveland called out of the blue,” he explains. “They had a multi-faceted position assisting rookies, maximising efficiency on the training ground, collaborating with medical staff, the head coach and GM. It’s a really active position, which is perfect for me. My experience was guiding players from abroad who had never played the game. Rookie rookies also have to build habits and schedules: how to look after their body and deal with a huge playbook. But also just being present for guys. That’s the same everywhere. And I love that.”

Does being an Englishman who never compete in the NFL hold him back? “It’s largely a imagined hurdle than an actual one,” states Cook. “I’ve had a lot of Lasso-style comments and loads of players refer to me as ‘bruv’ as they like that. It’s more about checking myself. I say ‘garbage can’ not ‘rubbish bin’. But we get nervous or stressed about the similar things and need support in the identical ways. If players understand you can assist them, they don’t care about your origin or how you speak. And when players know that you care, all the other stuff melts away.”

Advantages of Coming From Beyond the US System

Coming from beyond the NFL bubble has its upsides. “I addressed in front of the entire team very early on, and, as we left, one of our linemen wanted to talk the sport with me as he enjoys it. You build those bonds and build relationships. Teammates are genuinely intrigued. NFL organizations are more diverse than many think. We have staff from various origins, a variety of experiences. Our mantra at IPP was: ‘Stand out – you are different so embrace it.’ It’s something to celebrate.”

The NFL has been more successful at producing international supporters than developing foreign players. Jordan Mailata, a ex- rugby player from Sydney who claimed the Super Bowl earlier this year with the Philadelphia Eagles, is one of the few IPP graduates to have made it to the elite level.

Foreign Players and Their Paths

Foreign players have typically been kickers, recruited from other football codes. Howfield exchanged playing up front for English clubs for becoming a kicker for the Broncos and Jets; Luckhurst graduated from rugby in St Albans to the Atlanta Falcons roster. If you aren’t aiming to be a special teams player and were not educated in the American system, it’s very challenging to advance to the NFL.

Oyelola, a Londoner who played for Chelsea’s academy before finding the sport at Nottingham University, has achieved that. He competed in the Canadian Football League for the Blue Bombers before moving to the Jaguars and Steelers.

Maximilian Pircher’s story is equally improbable. At over two meters and 23 stone, the from Italy was obviously not suited for his preferred games, football and the sport, so started the NFL in his teenage years. He impressed while playing for clubs in Austria and Germany, as well as the Italy team, and was offered a spot on the IPP in 2021.

A year later, he held the Vince Lombardi Trophy as a part of the Rams training team. Pircher went on to have periods on the fringes at the Detroit Lions, Seattle Seahawks and Commanders, before he joined the Vikings at the late summer. He has been popular in each team but is hasn’t had game time on the field. Is being a international player still a hurdle?

“It’s not really difficult, not an obstacle,” says the player. “We have players from all different states, so it isn’t an issue. Initially, they inquire: ‘You got an accent – what’s your background?’ But, after we have that figured out, we’re teammates. The Minnesota have a very inclusive environment, a great team, a top organization.”

Despite spending the majority of training with his fellow linemen, Pircher has immersed himself in the social mix at his teams. “Naturally the O-line is consistently close-knit because we are a unit and altogether one, but we have mates from all positions. My close friend, Landen Akers – my wedding witness, actually – was a wide receiver at the Rams. The long snapper from the Green Bay, Matt Orzech, is a close pal: we shared a home for a while at the Rams. Quarterbacks, defensive linemen, special teams: we’ve got to be there for each other.”

Inspiring the Future

Pircher is aware he symbolizes more than just his home countries. “In my view all the countries outside the United States. The better each one of us performs, the greater number of young people who play football in Europe, in Europe, anywhere, can realize: ‘It can be done – if I put the work in consistently, I can get somewhere.’ I have a many kids contacting me, asking for tips. It’s nice to inspire them to experience what I’ve experienced.”

The program alumni are all invited to the US annually to train the next wave of potential NFL outsiders. “Virtually everyone of us come back