The Atlanta Falcons have signed Great Britain’s Aden Durde as their new defensive quality control coach.
Durde, a 37 year old native of London, thus becomes the first ever British coach to work full time in the NFL.
Durde joins the Falcons after serving as the head of football development at NFLUK, where he helped guide the International Player Pathway program. Working with Super Bowl champion and former Atlanta Falcon Osi Umenyiora, Durde helped four international players, tight end Alex Gray (Atlanta), defensive end Alex Jenkins (New Orleans), defensive end Efe Obada (Carolina), and linebacker Eric Nzeocha (Tampa Bay) transition to practice squads in 2017.
Prior to his work with NFLUK, Durde spent training camp with the Falcons as part of the Bill Walsh NFL Diversity Coaching Fellowship in 2016. He also worked as a coaching intern with Dallas Cowboys during training camp in 2014. Durde served as the defensive coordinator of the London Warriors for six seasons. Prior to that, he played linebacker in NFL Europe for six years with the Scottish Claymores and Hamburg Sea Devils while also spending time on the practice squads of the Carolina Panthers and Kansas City Chiefs.
Now Durde will work assisting the Falcons with game-planning and breaking down opposition film, helping to improve a talented group of linebackers including stars Vic Beasley and Deion Jones.