Britain’s Aden Durde has been named as defensive line coach of the Dallas Cowboys.
The former linebacker, who played in NFL Europe with the Scottish Claymores and the Hamburg Sea Devils and was on the practice squads of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers (2005) and Kansas City Chiefs (2008), has spent the past three seasons serving as a full-time coach with the Atlanta Falcons.
After six seasons as defensive coordinator of his hometown London Warriors in the British American Football Association’s National League, Durde served as a training camp intern with the Dallas Cowboys in the summers of 2014 and 2015. He then interned with Atlanta in 2016 and 2017, taking up a full-time role ahead of the 2018 season.
The former head of football development for NFL UK previously helped to launch the International Player Pathway Program that has sent the likes of Carolina Panthers defensive end Efe Obada and German fullback Jakob Johnson to the New England Patriots.
Durde spent the 2020 season coaching outside linebackers for Atlanta. Now, he gets to tutor talented pass-rushers such as DeMarcus Lawrence, Randy Gregory and Aldon Smith.
Along with his old boss Dan Quinn, who now serves as defensive coordinator in Dallas, Durde will be charged with improving a Dallas defense that ranked 23rd in the NFL in 2020.