Report: Cowboys to hire Aden Durde as DL coach

Durde was born in Middlesex, England, where he would go on to play for the London Olympians in the British American Football Association. Durde would win a championship in London, before moving to a more respected league, NFL Europe, where he played linebacker for the Scottish Claymores.

Durde’s European success would lead him to two different NFL practice squad stints, first with the Panthers in 2005, and then with the Chiefs in 2008.

His playing career would end shortly after his time with the Chiefs, but Durde returned to London and immediately became the defensive coordinator for six seasons with his hometown London Warriors.

Durde’s next step in coaching was sparked by a moment of chance, or fate perhaps. Jason Butt of Atlanta Journal-Constitution details what happened whenever Durde visited America in 2014,

“After taking some international players to a workout in Dallas, he happened to bump into a coaching contact he knew, who helped set him up with an interview with the Cowboys. Not long after, Durde became a coaching intern for the Cowboys.”

So this week’s meeting wasn’t the first time the former linebacker has dealt with Dallas, as he was on the staff as an intern roughly five years ago.

Following that internship opportunity, Durde became the head of football development for NFL UK, where he helped lead the International Pathway Program, which links talented european football players with NFL squads.

In 2016, Durde was gifted the Bill Walsh NFL Diversity Coaching Fellowship by Dan Quinn and the Atlanta Falcons. After two seasons with Atlanta, Durde was hired to be the Falcons Defensive Quality Control Coach, making him officially the first ever British NFL coach. That lead Durde to becoming the Falcons linebackers coach this past offseason.