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While the United States is a country of newcomers, the NFL is largely dominated by US-born players. Just five percent of participants are born abroad, and the majority of them enter the game by going to college in the United States. Genuine outsiders are unusual, and foreign coaches are especially scarce, which renders James Cook’s journey exceptional.

Cook’s Surprising Journey to the League

Cook has been in charge of athlete growth at the Cleveland Browns. This is an accomplishment in itself, but it’s incredible given he was raised in Surrey, is in his twenties, and did not played pro sports. Cook first saw the NFL as a teenager while surfing channels with his father and stumbled upon what he described as a “weird and wonderful” game. He began participating locally and soon aspired to become the first-ever NFL QB born in Europe. He progressed to playing for Team GB, but his dreams to go to college in the US were too expensive.

“I scooped popcorn, wiping seats, flipping burgers, doing a bit of everything. Whenever the NFL guys needed me, I would switch my schedule and assist. Being a quarterback, the one thing I had was I could throw. So when they worked out 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 stints with the Carolina Panthers and Kansas City Chiefs during his career before he set up the International Player Pathway program in 2017 with two-time championship winner Osi Umenyiora. When Durde joined the coaching team at the Falcons, becoming the first British permanent coach in NFL history, Cook took over the IPP. “I enjoyed a lot of fun with it, coaching some really interesting players,” he says. “We had Louis Rees-Zammit; Clayton, who was selected by the Bills; Charlie Smyth, the specialist from Ireland who’s now with the Saints. I traveled to Australia to work with aspiring athletes from across the Pacific to get them into the US college system, like what I wanted to do.”

Transitioning to Coaching in the NFL

Like Durde before him, Cook made the jump from training foreign players to coaching in the NFL. “The Browns called unexpectedly,” he explains. “They had a multi-faceted position supporting rookies, optimizing time on the practice field, collaborating with physios, the coach and GM. It’s a really active role, which is perfect for me. My background was working with international athletes who had never played the game. Rookie rookies also have to establish habits and routines: learning to take care of their body and deal with a massive playbook. But also just being present for guys. That’s the identical across the board. And I love that.”

Does being an Brit who did not play in the NFL a disadvantage? “It’s more of a imagined hurdle than an actual one,” states Cook. “I get a lot of reverse Ted Lasso comments and many players refer to me as ‘mate’ as they like that. It’s more about monitoring my language. I use ‘garbage can’ not ‘bin’. But we get nervous or stressed about the similar things and require support in the same ways. If players know you can help them, they don’t care about your origin or what accent. And when people realize that you care, all the other stuff fades.”

Benefits of Coming From Beyond the US System

Originating from beyond the NFL bubble has its advantages. “I addressed in front of the entire team soon after joining, and, as we walked out, one of our offensive linemen wanted to talk rugby with me as he loves it. You make those connections and build relationships. People are genuinely intrigued. NFL organizations are more diverse than many think. We have people from all sorts of backgrounds, a range of upbringings. Our mantra at IPP was: ‘Be uncommon – you are unique so lean into it.’ It’s something to be proud of.”

The NFL has been better at attracting international supporters than developing foreign players. Jordan Mailata, a former rugby player from Sydney who won the championship earlier this year with the Eagles, is one of the few IPP graduates to have risen to the elite level.

International Athletes and Their Paths

International athletes have typically been kickers, brought in from different sports. Howfield exchanged soccer for English clubs for becoming a kicker for the Denver Broncos and Jets; Luckhurst graduated from rugby union in St Albans to the Atlanta Falcons team. If you aren’t aiming to be a kicker and were not trained in the American system, it’s very challenging to advance to the NFL.

Ayo Oyelola, a Londoner who was part of Chelsea’s academy before discovering the sport at Nottingham University, has achieved that. He competed in the Canadian Football League for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers before taking his talents to the Jacksonville Jaguars and Steelers.

Maximilian Pircher’s experience is equally unlikely. At 6ft 7in and 23 stone, the Italian was clearly not suited for his favoured sports, soccer and handball, so took up the NFL in his late teens. He stood out while representing clubs in Austria and Europe, as well as the national side, and was given a place on the IPP in 2021.

The following year, he had his hands on the championship trophy as a member of the LA Rams practice squad. Pircher went on to have periods on the fringes at the Lions, Seattle Seahawks and Commanders, before he signed with the Minnesota Vikings at the late summer. He has been well-liked in each team but is hasn’t had action on the field. Is being a foreigner still a hurdle?

“It’s not really difficult, not an obstacle,” says the player. “We have players from various regions, so it doesn’t really matter. Initially, they ask: ‘You got an accent – where are you from?’ But, after we clarify that, we’re all friends. The Vikings have a very inclusive environment, a excellent team, a top organization.”

Despite devoting most of training with his fellow linemen, Pircher has thrown himself into the team dynamics at his teams. “Naturally the O-line is consistently very tight because we are a unit and united, but we have friends from all positions. My close friend, Akers – my best man, in fact – was a receiver at the Rams. The specialist from the Packers, Matt Orzech, is a really good friend: we lived together for a while at the LA Rams. Quarterbacks, defenders, special teams: we’ve have to be there for each other.”

Inspiring the Future

Pircher is aware he symbolizes more than just Italy and Austria. “I would say every nation outside the United States. The more successful each one of us does, the greater number of young people who participate in Italy, in Germany, anywhere, can see: ‘It can be done – if I put the work in consistently, I can get somewhere.’ I have a lot of youngsters hitting me up, seeking tips. It’s nice to encourage them to pursue what I’ve experienced.”

The program alumni are all invited to Florida each year to train the new group of potential NFL outsiders. “Almost all of us come back