Brock opens arms to special guest from England wanting to learn American football

It was only back in 2014 when Brock played its first varsity football season.

The Eagles made it to the state quarterfinals.

In their second season, they won a state championship.

They were state runner-up last December.

Brock has quickly risen to a state powerhouse, so much so that people across the pond have started to take notice.

Coach Chad Worrell, who also won two state titles as an assistant with Celina in 2003 and 2005, has housed a visitor from England for the past week.

David Rowlands is the defensive coordinator for Leeds Beckett University in Leeds, England, more than 4,500 miles from Fort Worth.

It’s his first trip to Texas.

“It’s hot. That’s definitely the first thing I thought,” said Rowlands, who has been with Leeds since 2009. “I was surprised how big Dallas was – it’s a huge place. Once I got to Brock it was quite small – but the people were so friendly and welcoming.”

In England, they call the sport American football – not to be confused with just football or futbol, which is soccer in their country.

“I already knew how big football was in Texas and how important it is here,” Rowlands said. “I wanted to see how a good football program runs things.”

Leeds won the 2017 Division I national championship.

“It’s a great opportunity not only for them to come here, but for our kids and coaches to learn their culture,” Worrell added. “It’s been a two-way street and we’re grateful for those guys as well.

“It’s been a real positive experience all the way around.”

Rowlands has been involved with American football since 2002. A native of Manchester, he graduated from Sheffield Hallam University where he later became a wide receivers coach.

He moved to the Chester Romans before landing in Leeds for the past 10 years.

Rowlands has been assistant head coach for the team since 2010.

“I love it. It’s the part of my life,” he said. “Going down to the university and watching them get better and trying to win games – it’s awesome.”

But American football there isn’t a religion like Texas.

However, it is growing.

“Absolutely it’s growing. There’s a great coaching community in Britain,” Rowlands said. “There’s a conference every year where they bring American coaches over from different universities so we’ve had some good ones come over and talk to us for the last 10 years. There’s always new teams popping up now and it’s getting bigger and more populated.

“It’s definitely a minority sport in Britain. At the university we’re starting to get more recognized so we’re one of the key sports now.”

It’s also not the first time Worrell has had an England coach on his campus.

It started in 2007 when he was in Celina, then again in 2008. Brock also had one last season too.

“Those guys have reached out and we welcome them with open arms,” Worrell said. “They come here and want to learn about American football, go to practice, coaches meetings, film, and study. Anything we can do to promote the sport, we’re excited about doing it.”

Worrell took Rowlands to AT&T Stadium his first night here to watch the Cowboys and Bengals preseason game.

They also went to the Stockyards and of course no trip to Texas would be complete without some Whataburger.

This story was originally published August 24, 2018 at 12:09 PM.