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While the US is a nation of newcomers, the National Football League is largely dominated by US-born athletes. Only 5% of players are born abroad, and most of them enter the game by attending college in the US. Genuine outsiders are rare, and coaches from abroad are especially scarce, which renders James Cook’s story exceptional.

Cook’s Surprising Path to the NFL

For the past six months, Cook has been in control of player development at the Browns organization. That’s an accomplishment in itself, but it’s incredible considering he was raised in England, is in his twenties, and did not participated in professional sport. Cook discovered the NFL as a 12-year-old while surfing channels with his father and came across what he described as a “strange and amazing” sport. He began participating in his area and quickly aspired to become the first NFL QB from Europe. He progressed to representing Team GB, but his plans to go to college in the US proved financially prohibitive.

“I was scooping popcorn, wiping seats, flipping burgers, doing a bit of everything. Any time the NFL people wanted me, I would adjust 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 buy me lunch.”

It was here that he encountered Aden Durde, who had stints with the Carolina Panthers and Kansas City Chiefs during his playing days before he established the IPP programme in 2017 with two-time Super Bowl winner Osi Umenyiora. When Durde joined the coaching team at the Atlanta Falcons, making history as the first British permanent coach in NFL history, Cook took over the IPP. “I had a lot of fun with it, coaching some remarkable players,” he recalls. “We had Rees-Zammit; Clayton, who got drafted by the Bills; Charlie Smyth, the kicker from the Emerald Isle who’s now with the New Orleans. I traveled to Australia to work with younger players from across the Pacific to get them into college football, like what I had hoped to do.”

Making the Leap to Coaching in the NFL

Like Durde before him, Cook transitioned from working with international athletes to joining the NFL. “Cleveland contacted me unexpectedly,” he says. “They had a hybrid role assisting younger players, optimizing efficiency on the practice field, working closely with physios, the head coach and general manager. It’s a really active role, which is ideal for me. My background was working with international athletes who had never played the game. First-year newcomers also have to establish structure and routines: how to take care of their health and handle a huge game plan. But also just being available for guys. That’s the identical everywhere. And I love that.”

Does being an Englishman who did not compete in the NFL a disadvantage? “It’s more of a perceived barrier than an real one,” states Cook. “I get a lot of reverse Ted Lasso jokes and many players refer to me as ‘bruv’ as they like that. It’s more about monitoring my language. I use ‘trash can’ not ‘rubbish bin’. But we get nervous or stressed about the same things and require support in the identical ways. If players know you can help them, they don’t care about your origin or what accent. And when people know that you care, all the other stuff melts away.”

Advantages of Being Outside the US System

Originating from outside the American football world has its upsides. “I spoke in front of the entire team soon after joining, and, as we left, one of our offensive linemen wanted to talk rugby with me as he loves it. You make those connections and build relationships. Teammates are truly intrigued. NFL buildings are more diverse than people think. We have people from all sorts of backgrounds, a variety of experiences. Our saying at IPP was: ‘Stand out – you are unique so embrace it.’ It’s something to be proud of.”

The NFL has been better at attracting international supporters than nurturing global talent. Mailata, a former rugby player from Sydney who won the Super Bowl recently with the Philadelphia Eagles, is among the rare IPP players to have made it to the elite level.

International Players and Their Paths

International athletes have usually been specialists, recruited from other football codes. Bobby Howfield swapped soccer for Watford and Fulham for being a kicker for the Denver Broncos and Jets; Luckhurst graduated from rugby in St Albans to the Falcons team. If you do not want to be a special teams player and did not trained in the US college system, it’s extremely difficult to make the leap to the NFL.

Ayo Oyelola, a native of London who played for Chelsea’s academy before finding the sport at Nottingham University, has achieved that. He played in the Canadian Football League for the Blue Bombers before taking his talents to the Jaguars and Pittsburgh Steelers.

Pircher’s story is equally improbable. At over two meters and heavyweight, the from Italy was clearly not built for his preferred games, football and handball, so took up the NFL in his teenage years. He impressed while playing for clubs in Austria and Europe, as well as the Italy team, and was given a place on the IPP in 2021.

A year later, he held the championship trophy as a member of the LA Rams training team. Pircher went on to have periods on the periphery at the Detroit Lions, Seahawks and Commanders, before he signed with the Minnesota Vikings at the late summer. He has been well-liked in every locker room but is hasn’t had game time on the gridiron. Is being a international player still a hurdle?

“It’s not really difficult, not a barrier,” says the player. “We have players from all different states, so it isn’t an issue. Initially, they inquire: ‘You got an accent – where are you from?’ But, after we have that figured out, we’re teammates. The Minnesota have a really inclusive culture, a great squad, a top organization.”

Despite spending most of training with his other linemen, Pircher has thrown himself into the social mix at his clubs. “Obviously the offensive line is consistently close-knit because we are a unit and altogether one, but we have mates from every position group. My best friend, Akers – my wedding witness, actually – played receiver at the LA. The specialist from the Packers, Matt Orzech, is a close pal: we shared a home for a while at the Rams. QBs, defenders, special teams: we’ve got to be there for each other.”

Motivating the Next Generation

Pircher is conscious he represents not only his home countries. “I would say every nation outside the United States. The better every IPP graduate performs, the more young people who play football in Italy, in Europe, anywhere, can see: ‘Oh it is possible – if I put the work in every day, I can succeed.’ I have a many youngsters contacting me, asking for tips. It’s rewarding to encourage them to experience what I’ve achieved.”

The IPP graduates are all invited to Florida each year to coach the new group of potential NFL outsiders. “Virtually everyone of us return