Jack del Rio has already seen a lot of American football in his life. The US-American played at college and in the NFL himself, and later became a successful coach.

Del Rio spent a total of 35 years in the biggest American football league in the world. The 61-year-old was head coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars for 8 seasons from 2003-2011, winning 68 career games and earning two playoff appearances and a playoff win in 2007. 

He later took over as head coach of the Oakland Raiders for two years, leading them to the playoffs in 2016. He has an impressive 93 career wins as a NFL head coach. Now, del Rio is coming to Paris and the ELF with a new challenge to embrace.

During the new weekly interview format "ELF - One on One", he reveals how the agreement came about and what he expects from his new job. 

ELF: Mister del Rio, how did you become the head coach of the Paris Musketeers?

Del Rio: “It was a great process. Yogi Ross is the one who contacted me initially. And I've known Yogi from way back when my son competed in the Elite 11, stuff like that. So we maintained contact. He reached out and was like, hey, we got this job opening and looking to fill. And I was like, you know what? That sounds good to me. 

I love to coach. We're talking about being in Paris, one of the great cities in the world. So I was like, I'm at least going to listen to this. My wife said automatic, we're in, and I was like, slow down, slow down. Let's talk it through. But anyway, we went through it. I met with many of the ownership group via Zoom. We talked about what the job was, what they were looking for, my potential interest.”

ELF: Was there any hesitation at all or concern about coming out here to Europe?

Del Rio: “There were a lot of questions. I did some research and talked to different people that have worked over there and, you know, talked with my wife and all that. I was like, what a great opportunity. I love to compete. I mean, I competed my whole life. I could see going over there and having a chance to interact with these young men and help them develop and become a champion. And I was like, this could be a lot of fun. And then we're living in Paris, a lot of benefits there.”

ELF: Have you been to Paris before?

Del Rio: “Yes, I have. My granddaughter lives in Madrid. So, I am super excited to be much closer to her. So yeah, I've been to Europe many, many times. And in Paris in particular a few times as well.”

ELF: What's kind of at the top of your to-do list the first day when you arrive in the facility, and you're starting to build a culture as a head coach?

Del Rio: “Plug in and add some juice. We want to connect; we want to develop relationships with our guys. Assembling the staff now, we want to have teachers, guys that can develop. As a former player, I know you are going to give the coach the first five minutes, and you're to be like, all right, can this guy help me or what? If you know that he can't, then you're going to eat up what he says. 

If you know that he can, you’re going to really tune in and stay locked in. So we want to make sure we take advantage of relationships and teach. In order to do that, there has to be some kind of connectivity, some kind of trust. And so, we've got to earn their trust. We're going to be intentional. We're going to come in, have a plan, and teach football.”

ELF: The Musketeers are entering their third season. In the first they were 6-6, in the second they made a giant jump into the playoffs. What does success look like to you this year?

Del Rio: “Well, we're going to have established high standards and there's no reason not to do so. I know we open with the league champions, and we will see them again in week four. So, we're definitely going to go to see right away how we measure up now. I've watched a lot of tape and to me, physically, we can match up just fine with anybody we're going to play. 

So, it's about us getting on the same page and preparing and developing a mindset, getting our systems installed and doing all we can to grow as a football team. It's not really how we start the year; it's how we finish the year. And we want to build towards the championship run every year that I'm doing this. That's what our goal is.”

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ELF: You will open the season with the back-to-back champion Rhein Fire and coach Jim Tomsula, who also has a bunch of NFL experience coaching both in the NFL and also in NFL Europe. Did your guys' paths ever cross?

Del Rio: “Yeah, briefly. I know Jim and have a lot of respect for him.  I've kind of followed him a couple places. I followed him when I went to the Raiders. I followed him when I went to the now Commanders. But Jim Tomsula is a really good coach. And he got his guys rolling. So it's time for me to get my guy's rolling, and we'll clash.”

ELF: How is the hunt going for an Offensive Coordinator and a quarterback?

Del Rio: “I think that'll be coming out shortly though because we're working hard at it behind the scenes. It was part of my interview. I went online, and I looked, and it was like they signed the tight end back and that's all they did. And I said, what are we doing? So, once I was told about the plan and what we have done, I feel much better about how we're building our roster, and we are working diligently behind the scenes on that.”

ELF: What is the identity of the guys that you're going to try and put out there on the field?

Del Rio: “We're going to be a team that plays smart, plays tough. We're going to be well-prepared, and we're going to be relentless in how we approach it. So, it's about the team. One of the greatest things about being a part of a football team is that it's about something greater than yourself. It's not about you. It's about us. It's about what we can do.”

Watch the full interview here