Jonathan Rooney is a highly experienced American Football coach and educator with over 15 years’ university coaching experience. A passionate New York Giants fan, Jonathan is a former GB Students player and GB U19 coach, and has been involved in Britball in for over 30 seasons in various capacities. 

Jonathan’s professional background is in education, and he worked as a mathematics teacher whilst developing and honing his skills as a football coach in universities on a part-time basis. In 2011 he spent a year coaching in the United States, working with teams at High School, Collegiate and Professional level including Concord High School, NC, Mississippi State University, MS and Cleveland Gladiators, OH.

 In 2018 Jonathan took on a full-time role at Durham University, combining the role of Head Coach of the Durham Saints with broader student engagement and community outreach work for the University, and leading the team to victory in the 2018 National Championship.

 Jonathan is active as an educator of coaches, working as a National Coach Educator for the British American Football Coaching Association. He also sits as Chairman of the Sports Advisory Group for British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS), advising further and higher education institutions to build the profile of the game.

Jonathan has lived and breathed UK American Football from an early age, and has made an outstanding contribution to the sport as a player, coach, educator and advocate. In his role as Director of Football Operations at UKFL, he’s committed to developing the UK game to open up new opportunities for home-grown talent to build a career in the sport.