If the style and game plan of the Tunisian men’s national team competing at IFAF Africa Flag 2025 resembles that of the current European champions, don’t be too surprised.
Head coach Rene Hesse hails from the Dortmund area and played tackle football for the Hamm Aces in his homeland during a 13-year career before gravitating to coaching a decade ago. He took his knowledge to Tunisia where the focus has shifted to flag football. Having watched his compatriots lift their continental title in 2023, the German sees an approach that could help propel Tunisia to gold medal glory in Cairo next week.
“I was at convention in Bavaria and the former head coach of the German flag football team gave a speech and I took some of some of his ideas and brought in some of my own so that we have a good system,” he explains. “We can really quickly adjust our offense and defense and we're preparing for almost everything.”
In the absence of teams being able to scout opponents and the infancy of all the national teams on the African continent, coach Hesse believes most teams will draw inspiration from established competitors that have enjoyed success in IFAF competitions. The games and styles of medalists from the past three years’ worth of tournaments are available through IFAF.TV and tactics might well be replicated by these developing African teams.
“I think some coaches will watch the world championships games where the teams like Germany, America, Mexico and Italy competed and go with similar styles and and bring a little bit of their own into it.
“It is common in tackle football in Germany that there is a delay of one or two years before coaches come up with new plays they have seen in the NFL. So, we're preparing for the same thing to happen in flag, with our opponents trying things they have seen that worked well in previous tournaments.”
Tunisia’s roster is comprised of several dual nationals, some of whom play tackle football in France and Germany and one who splits his time between Tunisia and Los Angeles. Tryouts were held during the build up to Africa Flag 2025 and while several athletes have transitioned from tackle to flag, others are new to the sport.
Tunisia’s biggest challenge is geographical, with the distance between squad members meaning opportunities to train together as a unit have been minimal.
“Some of them at the tryouts were selected because they're good athletes and we can use that for skill positions in flag football,” says Hesse. “We can’t practice with the whole team, and I think that's the biggest issue we have right now. We can do online meetings, and everybody knows that theory is important, but physically playing together is different.”
Hesse has a simple demand of his players when it comes to determining how they will win games in Cairo.
“My coaching philosophy is to take control of the ball,” he explains. “If you control the ball, you control the game. We have two good quarterbacks who can play both at the same level and they understand that philosophy. They can get the ball into receivers’ hands, and I think that's one of our strengths.”
Once IFAF Africa Flag 2025 is over and the continent’s first champion has been crowned, Tunisia’s long-term goal will be to attract people to flag football, develop more players and resurrect a promising tackle program that was impacted by the constraints of the pandemic. Hesse feels that the foundations for those building blocks will ultimately be laid by his team in Egypt, driven by a series of simple short-term goals.
“I think that potential Tunisian players in Africa, in Europe and in American will see that we have our Tunisian flag football team going to Cairo and that starts a conversation that can move things forward,” he says.
“But my main goal right now is just to win the next game. And then to win the next game after that, of course, and the ones after that.”
If Coach Hesse and Tunisia can achieve those goals, then the longer-term outlook for the Eagles might include a world championship berth and a chance to face some of the nations that have served as a source of inspiration.
Photo: Tunisian Association of American Football
