Inside the NFL Academy: 6am alarms, Hulk personnel and a Wembley homecoming dream

"One day the Commissioner will get up on that stage at the Draft and call a name that will be from the NFL Academy - then the world will know."

Projection? Warning? Promise? This was all of the above from Lamonte Winston, the Head of the Academy.

Sixty-two athletes from 13 countries; over 125 Division 1 college offers; 25 alumni playing college football in America; nine alumni playing Division 1 football. Without wanting to outdo the words of Coach Winston, there is a sense the world is already beginning to know.

The Academy is coming. It has been for some time. In Loughborough University it has assumed its own X-Mansion, only Marvel's make-believe superhero mutants are instead some of the UK, Europe and Africa's most gifted and personable young athletes, chiselling their not-so-make-believe attributes in route-running, run-blocking and quarterback-hunting. The unprecedented programme has evolved into a powerhouse for both sporting excellence and elite character development, carving US college-bound feather-rustlers as well as community-galvanizing role models.

"The ambition is to get 130 players into the NFL by 2030 and we're well on the way to doing that," Jo Maher, Loughborough's Pro Vice-Chancellor for Sport, tells Sky Sports.

Game on.

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The Academy recently opened its doors to Sky Sports NFL and other media personnel to offer a behind-the-scenes insight into its day-to-day operations as it dotted the i's on preparations for last Friday's season opener against Pennsylvania high school team Bonner and Prendie Friars.

So what did we learn? We learned that being kitted out in the Academy's beautiful Nike uniforms falsely empowers this amateur to believe he could escape the pocket and sling a sidearm pass like Patrick Mahomes, until the unflattering fashion in which I yanked off the pads and helmet brought me crashing back down to earth.

We learned of the team's 'secret weapon' in Academy director Alison Wyeth, a double Olympian who sets out to ensure each student is on course to achieve the GPA required in the classroom for when a scholarship offer comes in. We learned that it need only the shortest of interactions with Coach Winston and Head Coach Steve Hagen to be inspired to run through walls for both, before also learning of the ease at which they command a room as Coach Hagen demanded silence from chatty media at the beginning of film study.

We learned of Toshane Boyce, former running back turned-Head of the Alumni Program and a star in his own right as a guiding influence and beacon for all the Academy represents. We learned of Academy nutritionist Max Haskell, who sees to offensive lineman getting their 'five to six feeds' and upwards of 3,000 calories a day, while teaching student-athletes how best to budget their own money when it comes to eating and living independently.

We learned of Daniel Akinkunmi, the top-ranked offensive lineman prospect in Europe boasting 31 college offers, most recent being from Clemson. We learned of Irish rugby-convert and kicking king Andy Quinn, and of wide receiver star Seb Harris (who scored three touchdowns in Friday's opener), and of last year's top Academic performer Fletcher Cornwall, and of Belgian quarterback Jules Bouron, the latter of whom took the time to zip passes into European gold medal-winning sprinter Harry Aikines-Aryeetey as he ran hitch and out routes against a cornerback taking soft coverage advice from Jason Bell.

"We believe we have a team full of Daniel Akinkunmis," added Loughborough's Maher.

For all the opulence of Loughborough's exceptional campus and facilities, there remained a feeling you could strip it all away without losing an ounce of the unity or drive that became evident as we hovered as a fly on the wall. You watched as two players practised a fake handoff in the queue for breakfast, and as teammates whispered among themselves while taking notes on a complex run play design, and as receivers stayed late after practice to work on route-running, and as a couple of 6'5" offensive linemen, once strangers to one another, play-fought like life-long friends in front of this 5'9" journalist wondering if he was about to be pancaked by accident.

During an afternoon film study session the Academy's offensive coordinator Clayton Turner would rehearse the hand signal for their 'sugar huddle', the purpose of which is for players to huddle no more than three yards from the line of scrimmage before sprinting into their pre-snap alignment as a means of catching a defense cold. High-tempo, high-intensity, urgent and expertly-drilled football.

Without trying to, it spoke to the 'short runway' Winston would allude to for a group of players beginning their footballing journey far later than their American counterparts. A high-octane approach and fortified tunnel-vision is the only way this thing works; as much arguably makes the Academy and the potential of its players even more dangerous.

The tone had been set immediately. For there is only one place to start a day at the Academy - Loughborough's multi-million pound Powerbase, one of the world's largest elite strength and conditioning environments. As this caffeine-needy writer stifled a yawn or two and absorbed the grandeur of an Olympic-level gym, the cavalry arrived for their 6.30am start. A smiling, whooping and hollering cavalry as they were greeted by Strength and Conditioning coaches Chris Baird and Jack Oaten, bar-raisers with their infectious 6am energy, for the latest of their daily sessions as part of a gruelling training camp.

Very quickly the sluggish 6.30am feeling faded. While linemen engaged in powerlifting exercises, we joined the skill position players as Oaten led them through trap bar power-lift jumps, dumbbell push presses and ab exercises all designed to test and enhance explosiveness. Cheers would echo across the room at the sight of a player deadlifting some kind of ludicrous weight, while other players took the time to help one another stretch or log jump measurements on a white board. It became clear that the Academy's gym sessions stood for more than mere muscle gain, embodying the principles of what it takes to be successful: getting up, showing up, leaving no doubt, hunting down the goal together - rinse, repeat.

"They influence us, they're chasing a dream," says Winston. "They understand the runway is short but they're committed to their dreams. They've never practised this hard, they've never been challenged intellectually this much, we're inspired because they've allowed us in, they've given us an opportunity to shape their lives."

'Cutting out average' was a common theme throughout the day, notably in a leadership seminar staged by Winston and his staff following breakfast.

"I think it's that one-percent better and not allowing yourself to be average. Your normal person doesn't do this. It isn't easy. The sacrifices you have to make, eating right, sleeping right, waking up at 6am. It's such a difficult lifestyle."

Boyce would ask people to raise their hands if they believed they were a leader, informing those that had declined the offer that everybody was in fact a leader in some capacity. Former NFL defensive back Jason Bell underlined the variation in his experience with leadership, from a vocal leader like Michael Strahan to a silent leader like Osi Umenyiora during his time with the New York Giants. He referenced another former teammate in Antonio Pierce as his most notable 'leader': "he didn't say much, but when he did people listened."

"Leadership develops daily, not in a day," said Winston.

"We know this will help them far beyond the game," he later added.

The ethos was clear. Those at the helm pride themselves on the task of not only guiding players to thriving careers across the Atlantic, but also moulding the empathetic, morally-sound and conscious human-beings beneath the pads.

"We're getting back into the community with our Flag Football programme, we go and work with primary and secondary schools in the area because we know for any sport to succeed you need the pyramid to be successful," Maher explains.

"We want more athletes at grassroots level and to do that we need these athletes to be role models and when you spend time with them you see they're exactly that, they've got fabulous etiquette, they're extremely polite, they're friendly, those character traits will set them in good stead to be a future Walter Payton Man of the Year winner. That's what's unique about the NFL, you need to be the whole package."

Kris Durham is the Academy's Head of Football and a former NFL wide receiver that was drafted in 2011 by the Seattle Seahawks before also spending time with the Detroit Lions and Tennessee Titans. He reiterated the message that "everything is intentional", from the crack-of-dawn starts to the physically and mentally taxing balancing act between education and football.

"We want them to be football players and help grow this game," says Durham. "But at the end of the day we're focused on the totality of that young man, so that's education, nutrition, mental health and wellness, football. This is the toughest thing they've been through in their life. We're bringing these cultures and blending them together and having respect for one another."

"We're going to have some NCAA players, some NFL players, we're going to have NFL employees, future coaches, future CEOs, future doctors, that's all part of this."

By lunch certain media members are wondering how it is only midday, such is the stiffness setting in from the early gym wake-up call. At this point you are reminded of how these players have squeezed nine practices into one week ahead of their season opener; come term time they must continue to do so alongside studying for A-Levels or Btecs, navigating life fending for themselves, and, in the case of the foreign students, learning English.

"They went to America and on a camp the coach asked them 'how many can do your washing or know how to cook your own food?' and all their hands went up," said Academy Director Wyeth. "We're really preparing them so they're one step ahead of the players they'll meet at university because they're already experiencing life at 16."

Former Academy prospect Emmanuel Okoye, who moved across to the UK from Nigeria, had not strapped on a helmet until last October; now he is playing at the University of Tennessee, where tight ends coach Alec Abeln has suggested he possesses the potential to be the "most athletic guy to play the position". While Okoye did the heavy-lifting, the Academy set-up ensured he was primed to settle and succeed once the States came calling.

As the afternoon arrived, it was time to turn on the tape ahead of practice. "Media, quiet!" ordered Coach Hagen.

"Be a salesman," featured among the messages from the offensive coordinator Turner to the wide receiver he planned on deploying in a decoy jet-sweep motion.

They broke down plays from the likes of Auburn as well as a handful of high school teams, one of whom's urgency when exploding from their 'sugar huddle' earned high praise as a useful point of reference. They ran through concepts they planned on running from both their Hulk and Flash packages, underlining the diversity to their personnel usage. They rehearsed their 'grey beard' signal and talked through their '(Duo) Zoom Brown Britain Slide' design, the specifics to which shall be left confidential as the Academy gears up for its next outing.

"We are probably more a spread offense, more like the Oregon Ducks and like Chip Kelly rather than a West Coast offense," Coach Hagen explains. "We don’t use West Coast verbage, we’re probably more of a traditional Texas spread, high school, Mike Leach-type offense."

"Different to what Coach Kubiak ran," he laughs, referencing four-time Super Bowl-winning coach Gary Kubiak, who was in attendance on the day as an advisor to the Academy. Kubiak had previously worked alongside Mike Shanahan in crafting the West Coast quick-pass, split-back, outside zone-orientated schemes now prevalent in the form of different variations across today's NFL, from Kyle Shanahan's San Francisco 49ers to Sean McVay's Los Angeles Rams.

"When you learn from scratch it’s all you know," continued Coach Hagen. "They’ve done really well, they’ve learned a lot of football in a short time. We practice two-a-day, one-a-day, two-a-day, one-a-day throughout the week and then practice on Saturday so we have nine practices in a week which gets them up to speed quickly."

Movie time has taken on a brand new meaning for a lot of the players, few of whom will have ever delved into football's Xs and Os prior to their arrival.

"In terms of film I watch film all the time, I don’t watch Netflix, I watch film!" laughs Akinkunmi. "That’s probably the main thing."

Akinkunmi has emerged as one of the most in-demand prospects across Europe and continues to draw interest from some of the biggest college programmes in the US. The time will come when he is faced with the job of deciding on a destination.

"They've asked for me to be coachable, I’m new to the sport, very raw. All they want me to do is come and keep learning and getting bigger and stronger," he told Sky Sports.

"What I want from the coaches is to embrace me and make sure they’re able to guide me through the process, I haven’t been doing it for long, I’m raw!"

The day ends with practice. Receivers are running out routes, Quinn is kicking off special teams drills and at mid-field a double-team blocking drill sees coach Randy Starks, a former two-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman, bear the brunt of an accidental and painful-looking toe-tread, leaving him hopping in pain. Occupational hazard.

There is an unintentionally-theatrical feel as Eminem's 'Sing for the Moment' blares from the speakers while Winston discloses the most important lesson he hopes his players part with when they begin life after the Academy.

"Be truthful about who you are, what you are and who you want to be. Be truthful, respectful and take care of this game, because it’s not promised to anybody," he says.

Winston would describe his decision to come across from America and take a role at the Academy as his "calling", he and Coach Hagen admitting they knew next to nothing about the programme prior to being introduced. It took little time for the pair to buy into the mission.

A reminder of the mission - or at least part of it...

"When we had the Denver Broncos come over, to see one of our athletes next to Russell Wilson coaching a primary school kid was just magic," said Loughborough's Maher. "What I want to see is roll the clock forward four or five years and turn up to Wembley or Spurs and have one of our athletes on the pitch. That would be the absolute dream."

You can follow the NFL Academy's season and receive regular updates @nflacademy across Twitter, Instagram and TikTok. To find further information on NFL Academy, please visit, https://www.nflacademy.com/