There are examples of coaches who never played in a pro level, like Carlos Queirós and Bora Milutinovic, but many of the coaches of the european leagues were top or pro players.
In spite of that, being a ex-player isnt the main condition to be a sucessful coach.
In same way, to be a good coach you don´t have to had a license or several licenses, but if the teachers you have in the courses are good, you always learn something about soccer, specially that small things in soccer that you do when you are a player, but you can´t explain why are you doing that.
About the european coaches in Canada, the main point is... Are they really good? Were they a good or the only coice you have? If they said that kind of thing, they probably dont have quality.
