Aden Durde will take a moment to himself on Sunday. A moment of calm amid the chaos.
As the US National Anthem rings around Levi’s Stadium, as the Super Bowl lurks seconds from kickoff, as Lombardi legacy engulfs the NFL’s last men standing, as the eyes of the world pan to Santa Clara, the Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator will close his eyes and count.
When the song finishes, he will say ‘thank you’. Then, he is ready.
It is a breathing exercise that has become something of a pre-game ritual, routine even.
“It just helps me focus on the moment and understand,” Durde tells Sky Sports NFL.
Dusted-off scripts instruct a ‘just another game’ narrative for those involved, only until it isn’t just another game. It is THE game. Durde knows that, the Seahawks know that. But for all that the pre-game circus may toss their way, they know little else matters between the white lines. That’s their safe place, that’s where they have stormed to the No 1 seed, that’s where Durde and Mike Macdonald’s defense has been undeniable, unstoppable.
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Durde will make history this weekend as the first ever British-born coordinator to coach at a Super Bowl when his Seahawks face the New England Patriots, live on Sky Sports.
He is recognised as the first ever full-time NFL coach to develop his playing and coaching career entirely outside of the United States. In doing so Durde has established himself as one of the UK’s greatest gridiron exports, and a bridge-gapping beacon of inspiration for the league’s era of international expansion.
So much of what the NFL has achieved overseas stems from Durde, but you have to shout about it for him.
“It’s flattering, to be honest with you,” he said. “I don’t necessarily think about that. You have to be aware that those things exist. But I’m so kind of tied into what I do, it’s hard to see outside sometimes. But it is flattering, and I don’t take any of it for granted.”
Durde started his playing career in the UK with the Hayes Brave and London Olympians before competing in NFL Europe with the Scottish Claymores and Hamburg Red Devils as well as enjoying spells on the Carolina Panthers and Kansas City Chiefs practice squads.
He later spent six seasons as defensive coordinator of the London Warriors upon moving into coaching, and became the founder of the NFL’s International Player Pathway programme.
It was there where he discovered a certain Efe Obada, who would subsequently embark on his own unlikely journey to the NFL and in turn accompany Durde as one of the prized faces of British football.
“I remember my first meeting, I remember he gave me a pair of cleats,” Obada told Sky Sports NFL. “I didn’t have a pair of cleats. And he gave me these green and black Jaguars cleats.
“For me, that was huge because nobody’s ever given me anything without expecting anything from me in return. That had a huge impact on me and made me buy in a bit more as well into the game, into the sport.”
Obada would be joined by Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata among the IPP’s notable success stories, playing for the Panthers, Buffalo Bills and Washington Commanders among others over the last decade.
“I think he was very instrumental in the early stages of my career, he was a coach that I resonated with,” said Obada. “He saw the potential and then took time out of his life to invest and pour in me in terms of coaching me up.
“When Dallas came over to London he was someone that was involved in getting me an unofficial workout with them. I had the workout with them, which the following year led to them signing me to their practice squad. And that kind of put me on that trajectory to where l’ve been able to have a career in the NFL. In all the times here, he was the go-to coach.”
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Durde’s time with the Warriors was followed by coaching internships with the Cowboys and Atlanta Falcons, the latter of which hired him as a defensive quality control coach under Dan Quinn in 2018.
A quality control coach is famously the quintessential fly on the wall exposure to anything and everything within a football programme, tasked with charting and absorbing the intricacies and wrinkles of their entire scheme. It is deemed the perfect education and a pivotal foundation from which to launch one’s own career. But it had been here in the UK where Durde cultivated the art of empathy and understanding, as much fuelling his rise through the ranks.
“I think one of the biggest things I got from coaching at the Warriors is just how to like work with people,” said Durde. “And like a lot of people, they have the same patterns. They have different personalities, but they all have dreams, they all have aspirations, and how you uplift them, how you help them set their goals. And it kind of translates into this league.”
Durde eventually became outside linebackers coach with Atlanta before spending three seasons as defensive line coach in Dallas having followed Quinn to Texas. Come 2024 he was hired as Seahawks defensive coordinator, teaming up with first-time head coach Macdonald as part of a franchise refurb in life after Pete Carroll.
“He’s not afraid to challenge the status quo,” Will Bryce, head of the NFL Academy Asia-Pacific and Durde’s former colleague, told Sky Sports NFL.
“No one wants a room full of yes-men telling them how great they are. That’s not how you get to the Super Bowl.
“You just look at moving from Dallas to Seattle, from a career perspective, he didn’t know anyone in Seattle. When you look at the detail, and I’m sure it’s been documented about how coach McDonald constructed that staff as well, I don’t think there’s anyone that he’d worked with before directly.
“It goes against the grain because you see all the flow of people going with other people. But for Adam to back himself and go that, he pushes himself outside of that comfort zone.”
Between them Durde and Macdonald have orchestrated one of the league’s most destructive, versatile and stubborn defenses, which ranked No 1 in points allowed during the regular-season.
It is a unit built on coverage disguise, simulated pressures and bundles of subterfuge, but so too a defense that exemplifies violent, full throttle football. Durde’s men harass the ball in gangs, at an unrelenting rate. Their reward is a shot at the ultimate prize.
“I think the way the guys play, they treat every play like they can win it,” said Durde. “I think those things are, I don’t think they’re rare in this league, but for what we’re trying to build, that’s something that all of the guys are proud of, the way they treat every play like it’s an individual play, and they run, they try and attack the football, they try and be as physical as possible.”
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Speak to Durde and it’s difficult to imagine anything rocking the equilibrium, not even the weight of a Super Bowl. He is as calm, as collected as you will encounter in the NFL, tranquil teaching proving a defining trait to the ease at which players respond for him.
“I think it’s been an incredible amount of hard work, resilience. He’s extremely intelligent,” Bryce continued.
“I think what allows him to be the coach that he is, the communicator that he is, the leader that he is, all those traits, all those things that he possesses, he’s just real.”
Obada added: “It’s the human aspect that people resonate with, that transcends the game.
“Someone like him definitely values and pours into that aspect as well, into the friendships, into the relationships.
Bryce also credits the influence and support of Durde in the growth of the UK and Asia-Pacific’s respective NFL Academy setups, dating back to his days working in the NFL UK office. His work lies prominently at the root of the increasing number of international athletes securing life-changing opportunities in college football and beyond.
“This is a monumental thing for the UK, but he also brings so many people along with him,” Bryce continued.
“It just so happened he got hired by the Falcons and that was in April. Then we launched our Academy that September, but obviously he’d put in all the work prior with it.
“So many kids are benefiting from that now all over the world, but they won’t know that. No one would know that.
“He probably wouldn’t want people to know that, but directly and indirectly, he’s influenced so many peoples’ lives and so many people have benefited in the game of football.”
Bryce puts himself in the shoes of Durde on Sunday, mimicking his old friend’s routine of standing directly along his defensive line.
“He’s got a certain posture when he’s standing in the game,” he laughs.
A milestone awaits, ahead of which Bryce has been texting Durde’s sons. He only wishes he could be in attendance with Obada, Mailata and Osi Umenyiora in support of the man they have seen help pave the way for so many.
“You’d say it’s surreal, but it’s also very real,” said Bryce. “You can very much believe it because of the type of person that Aden is.”
“He obviously deserves this moment and he deserves to be the one putting a big spotlight on what’s possible. It doesn’t matter where you start or where you come from. You just work hard, do the right things, be the right type of person and the results take care of themselves.”
A Super Bowl win would not only mark a crowning moment to Durde’s glittering journey, but also that of the close family and friends that have been with him for the ride.
“I think some of the sacrifice is mine, but a lot more is theirs,” he said. “I’m away and I do a job that I enjoy and I love every day. So like don’t get me wrong, I miss them and everything, but the sacrifice they’ve made to allow me to get into these positions, like the birthdays I’ve missed, the time away from home, I can’t thank them enough. It’s hard to put those things into words.”
Watch the New England Patriots against the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl 60 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California on Sunday February 8, with coverage under way at 10pm live on Sky Spots NFL ahead of kick-off at approximately 11.30pm.