Making the transition from successful player to coach in the NFL can present some difficult challenges. Traveling 3,000 miles to speak a foreign language and coach an unfamiliar position is an unusual route to take, but is the preferred choice of former St Louis Rams offensive lineman Tom Nütten.

A Super Bowl winner with the Rams three years ago, Nütten has traded life in the trenches for the role of tight ends coach of the new NFL Europe League franchise the Cologne Centurions. This spring he will apply knowledge gleaned from an eight-year NFL career and the German language he speaks fluently to further his coaching career and help realize the aspirations of players allocated to NFL Europe for the 2004 season.

"I am here to see if I like coaching and see if I have what it takes," said Nütten. "I'm learning from the tight ends as well as teaching them. The blocking techniques are identical to those I used as a lineman, but the release and the route running are new to me. At first I was put a little bit out of my comfort zone having not played the position myself, but I'm fine now."

Centurions head coach Peter Vaas, who guided the Berlin Thunder to successive World Bowl triumphs, has given his coaching novice full responsibility for the tight ends during the current training camp in Tampa Bay.

"He told me to use my judgment and hasn't talked to me once to change my style, so I guess I'm doing things right," added Nütten. "I have three great guys to coach who all come from different backgrounds and we're working well together."

Nütten will also prove a valuable asset for the rookies when they arrive in Cologne. The former Rams star was raised in the nearby town of Oelde and is no stranger to the historic German city where the Centurions will live.

"Cologne is a wonderful place and I used to go there on school trips to see the famous Cathedral, the museums and the culture," he explained. "So I will help the players off the field as well as on it, to help them with getting around, eating out and understanding the language. I'm a kind of a camp councilor already as well as the tight ends coach." 
  
Ex-Rams lineman Tom Nütten is ready for his new role as the Centurions tight ends coach.   
Nütten himself played in NFL Europe as a member of the offensive line that protected a then little-known Kurt Warner on the 1998 Amsterdam Admirals. Both graduated to play in two Super Bowls with the Rams before injury prematurely halted Nütten's short-lived tenure with the New York Jets last year.

"Being a coach now rather than a player my body is feeling much better," he said. "That's the main difference. You are able to do much more with your brain when you're not concerned about injuries or aches and pains. The beautiful thing about being on the sideline is that it's not me who is out there running and blocking any more!"

A devoted family man, Nütten will be joined in Cologne by wife Danielle and sons Tyson (two years old) and Tristan (five months old). His parents even live close by, adding to the warm welcome he expects to receive. "My family is from Germany," he explained. "My mother lives an hour and 45 minutes from Cologne and my father lives an hour away in Belgium and I have numerous good friends from high school in the area."

While the players he is coaching have aspirations of securing an NFL roster spot come the 2004 preseason, Nütten is less concerned with making a similar step himself. "I still think that's a little early for me," he admits.

"With my European background I want to explore all my options, which includes doing a good job for the Centurions first and foremost. At the time I was hoping to make the transition from player to coach I just wanted to become involved in NFL Europe. I told them I wanted in and that I wanted to help and they've given me an opportunity. I'm in no hurry to leave."

Nütten and the Centurions remain at training camp in Tampa Bay until March 23 and kick off the new NFL Europe League season on the road at local rival Rhein Fire on Sunday, April 4. 

NFL.com