Two weeks ago, the UK’s Seydou Traore heard his name called in the fifth round of the NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins. His drafting caps a journey to the NFL that has not historically existed for international talent. The NFL Academy UK is a central reason that pathway now exists, and we sat down with the man currently running it, head coach Steve Hagen.
A Lifetime in Football
Steve Hagen has been in football his entire life. He grew up as a ball boy for the Dallas Cowboys, had a tryout in the USFL before finding his way into coaching as a graduate assistant at the University of Illinois in 1983.
What followed was a career built in some of the best coaching rooms in American football. From beginnings at Illinois and Union Jack Classic participant, Kansas, he was on the sidelines with Lou Holtz at Notre Dame during their national championship run in the late 1980s and Chris Ault at Nevada. Then came the NFL and a five year spell with the Cleveland Browns, roles with the New York Jets under Rex Ryan and Todd Bowles, and more than a dozen college programmes in total.
By the time Hagen took a head coaching position in Italy’s football league in 2021, the seeds of an international coaching career had been planted. When someone mentioned the NFL Academy to him during a period between jobs, the role intrigued him, he jumped in.
Come, Grow, Go
The NFL Academy has been based in Loughborough since 2022. In partnership with the college and university, the Academy is a boarding school for student athletes aged 16 to 19. It has taken in players from 21 different countries. The model is straightforward in concept and demanding in execution. They recruit for athletic potential rather than football experience, immerse players in the sport and get them academically eligible for the NCAA. The strategy is to send them to US college programmes ready to compete from day one. Coach Hagen summarises it in three words, “come, grow, go”.
Coach Hagen described the Academy’s ethos as giving players “an opportunity to go somewhere,” whether that is college football in America or simply becoming, a better man who has been held to a different standard.
The story of Luca Wolf captures it well. Wolf came in from Austria having never played American football (his background was basketball). Luca was uncertain at first, questioning whether the programme was right for him. But under Coach Hagen’s tutelage, he soon found his feet. “I just said, keep doing it, one day at a time.” Wolf signed with the Tennessee Volunteers earlier this year.
Clarity is Kind
Coaching players from 21 countries requires a particular kind of discipline in how you communicate, and this is something Coach Hagen thinks about seriously. Clear Communication is central to everything done at the academy. From day one communication is in “American football English”, the anticipated language of their future.
If someone does not understand something (player of staff), messages are made clearer, not diluted. Pre-season Zoom calls begin before players even arrive in July, so by the time they land in Loughborough they have already heard their coaches’ voices, seen their teammates’ faces, and started absorbing the system.
The philosophy he took from Coach Lou Holtz underpins everything. WIN: What’s Important Now.
“Clarity is kind,” he said. That is the standard.
The Pipeline is Real
Coach Hagen was proud to tell us that in his first three years at the Academy, 49 players were placed into the college football system.
Seydou Traore was part of the original Academy intake in 2019. He was a former goalkeeper in Fulham’s development setup, before discovering the sport through the early NFL London games. Via Clearwater Academy in Florida, then Arkansas State, then Mississippi State in the SEC, he had 30 receptions for five touchdowns in his final college season. Last week in Pittsburgh, his name was read out at the NFL Draft by Efe Obada, himself a London-raised pioneer of the international pathway. It was a great moment for the Academy.
Then there is Pape Abdoulaye Sy, from Senegal, currently developing as an offensive tackle at Boston College in the ACC. Peter Clarke, a tight end at Temple, is another standout. In 2025, Clarke finished the season with 30 receptions for 483 yards and six touchdowns. He is entering his senior year and the NFL Draft conversation is already building.
Three players and three stories that do not happen without the NFL Academy.
Much to Look Forward To
Peter Clarke’s senior season at Temple will be worth following closely this autumn, as will how Pape Abdoulaye Sy develops in what is a strong offensive line programme in the ACC.
With the Union Jack Classic bringing live college football to Wembley later this year, the sport’s profile in the UK is only going to rise. The Academy is no longer a curiosity on the margins of that story. It is becoming central to it. And if you are between 16 and 18, have the athletic potential, and are willing to commit, Coach Hagen’s message is simple, reach out. They do not need you to have played football before. They just need you to mean it.
Meet Adam, host of the College Football UK podcast on the AAW Network and owner/founder of College Football UK View. Adam’s a longtime Oregon Ducks fan and avid lover of College Football. Please follow Adam on Twitter.
Head to AAW_CFB on Instagram and Twitter for pur college football coverage, updates and more. Follow AAW_Network on Instagram and Twitter and join across the network.
