Germany’s Elmshorn Fighting Pirates will enter the German Football League in 2020 with one of the most celebrated coaches in Europe, Patrick Esume, to help the team on defense and on offense.
Esume assumes the role of both defensive and offensive consultant for a Pirates team that finished first in the GFL2 North and then defeated the Dusseldorf Panther to qualify for the German Football League for the first time.
One of the most well known and successful coaches in Europe, and highly popular and respected football TV commentator, the 45 year old Esume is coming off of a five year stint as head coach of Team France, leading them to their first ever European championship when they defeated Austria in the final in 2018. Under Esume, the French national team also defeated Germany for the first time ever in the 2017 World Games.
Pirates head coach Jörn Maier and Esume have also known each other for almost 20 years. Maier was a part of the Kiel coaching staff under Esume from 2010 to 2012.
Esume came to the French team with an impressive resume. He served as head coach of the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes where he won a German championship in 2010 and qualified for the German finals two straight years after that. He was named coach of the year in Germany in 2010 and with Kiel won the EFL (European Football League) title in 2014.
He arrived in Kiel after a highly successful year as head coach of La Courneuve Flash winning the French championship in 2009.
His overall club team coaching record of 85-19 (Note: does not include Team France) speaks for itself. He first started coaching with Frankfurt in NFL Europe in 2002 moving to Hamburg the following year, eventually becoming the offensive coordinator for the Sea Devils in 2007 (the only non-American coordinator in the history of NFL Europe). That team won the World Bowl championship in 2007.
La Courneuve Flash, French Champions, 2009
His accolades are too numerous to mention, but he also served as a guest coach at training camp for the Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns and the Philadelphia Eagles.
In 2006 and 2007 he was the director of the NFLE International Camps held in Germany, Holland, Sweden and England but helped run camps in a number of other places such as Mexico.