FALCONS ADD LONDONER ADEN DURDE TO COACHING STAFF
The **Atlanta Falcons** have added Londoner, Aden Durde as their defensive quality control to the club's coaching staff.
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.
Durde, who becomes the first product of domestic American football in the UK to achieve a full-time position on an NFL team coaching staff, said: "I am very excited about this opportunity and can’t wait to get started working with head coach Dan Quinn and his staff. It has been an incredible journey for me and I hope my appointment serves as an example to players and coaches in the UK of what is possible for them."
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.