The pipeline first was a trickle.
With a vision of helping spread football globally, and, more importantly, helping international players find a pathway to American football here in the United States, Brandon Collier some seven years ago began forming the foundation of what has evolved into PPI Recruits – now billed by the company as “The No. 1 international recruiting and placement platform for American football players.”
Once Collier delved further into the global evolution, he had another thought: Why limit this only to players? What if a program was manifested to develop international coaches for the game here in the States?
Having helped athletes from Africa, Australia and Europe land on American college football teams, Collier now has begun to unwrap the International Coaches Network.
“A lot of coaches, most didn’t go to high school in America and went in their respective countries,” Collier told FootballScoop. “People didn’t know how to or didn’t really give (international) coaches enough respect and help to show they can coach the game. So what if they could learn from some of the best coaches in the world, college or NFL, and bring that back to international kids?
“And maybe one day one of these guys can be the next Mike Tomlin or Nick Saban. I think it’s only a matter of time before it happens where an international coach makes the scene.”
Collier had a “test run” last spring with new Florida Gators coach Billy Napier; there were some guest international coaches who attended Florida’s annual spring game. Coaches came from France, Germany and Netherlands.
Then, as Collier worked to further to fortify the program, he encountered Mike Daniels – former Cincinnati-area prep coach who had helped to develop numerous college prospects and who later coached collegiately at both Buffalo and Georgia Tech.
“The growth of football internationally is all the same,” Daniels, a senior advisor for the NFL league office, told FootballScoop. “Whether it’s NFL, college or high school, the game of American football is growing at a rapid rate, especially internationally.
“Having the ability to be a part of something that’s educating and pushing as a big-picture thinker, that’s why me and Brandon have clicked so far. Everything from the NFL standpoint, be it an international team eventually or new academy in another country, flag football now as an Olympic sport, it’s all centered around growing the game. And the Information and ability to coach it has to be available. How cool would it be to have a part in helping be pioneers to help find those next great coaches perhaps around the world?”
In addition to Napier, Collier also has connected with coaches from Penn State, including James Franklin, as well as Temple and other Football Bowls Subdivision programs. A week-long bootcamp program with between 10 and 15 international coaches “after almost 25 applied” has been scheduled as the next step for the program next month.
By spring, Colliers and Daniels estimated the program should boast more than 100 international coaches and they said they’ve received indications that more college coaches and programs across the United States would carve time to meet with these potential international football disciples.
“I just think that, and I was recently reading Rich Paul’s book ‘Lucky Me,’ basically, when he interned at Nike, this is their education,” Collier said. “To potentially get the opportunity to learn from coaches at Penn State and some of these programs, you’re going to get the best education in the world that you can in coaching football.
“Our goal is hopefully a Temple or Penn State or as this program grows, hopefully we can help get an international coach added to a staff one day or added as an analyst and just continue to help the game grow.”