There was a defensive line last season in high school football that featured players who are now at Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, Georgia Tech, and Tennessee.

Perhaps more astonishing than its actual existence, this collection of marauding defenders came together from across the country to play for a high school that didn't have any chance of competing in a postseason.

No playoff games.

No pep rallies.

And no real local fans to speak of either.

The team played a tough schedule, and many of the games were on national TV, but practices were actually more important for college coaches and recruiting scouts. Where is this place where wins and losses don't matter anymore?

Foregoing traditional high school experiences in their various hometowns, these prep stars played for the controversial boarding school in Bradenton, Fla., IMG Academy, which is sponsored by Gatorade and Under Armour, and is a subsidiary of a sprawling corporation that specializes in the marketing of athletes and the sports they play. IMG made its initial money as a sports agency, but now it also owns IMG College, which is in business with about 200 universities and the NCAA.

IMG Academy exists as a business model to profit off of athletes both amateur and professional, and business is booming.

The boarding school started with one football team, but last year had a "national team" and a "Florida team." As a high school player from Tuscaloosa, running back Bo Scarbrough was one of IMG Academy's first big-name players, and now, after leaving Alabama a year early, he's back at IMG's campus training for the NFL Combine.

Auburn's Tre Williams and Austin Golson also are training at IMG Academy along with over a dozen other former college players.

The state of Alabama's most recent Mr. Football, Decatur Austin High running back Asa Martin, played at IMG Academy as a junior. He moved back to Decatur for his senior season, and is now enrolled early at Auburn. Dylan Moses left Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to play for IMG Academy before enrolling early at Alabama last year. There are others with in-state ties as well.

High school coaches are wary of IMG Academy, college coaches flock to it and the NCAA seemingly caters to it. There are high school athletic associations from Alabama to California that will tell you IMG Academy is the ruination of prep sports. The Florida High School Athletic Association allows IMG Academy to be a member, but won't let the school compete in the postseason.

While the NCAA's new signing period back in December has taken a lot of buzz and importance out of Wednesday's traditional National Signing Day, the early window for athletes to bind themselves to schools with national letters of intent has increased the value of IMG Academy. Everything that IMG Academy ultimately represents is subjective depending on who's talking to you, but the fact that it is positioned to take full advantage monetarily of this seismic shift in the recruiting calendar is not really up for debate.

"As of last year, and you see it more and more, and I talk to college coaches with guys declaring earlier and earlier, it puts more of a premium on having guys prepared as freshmen to come in and play," IMG Academy coach Kevin Wright said. "That's where it kind of fits us."

Colleges want players to enroll early and be prepared to compete for starting spots. IMG Academy is providing that service for the price of $72,500 a year (tuition, room and board). Financial aid is available to qualifying families, of course.

As Ice-T so famously put it, don't hate the player, hate the game.

IMG Academy had 23 of its 40 seniors sign and enroll early, according to the team's head football coach, and the boarding school's public relations director -- yes, it has one -- sent out a press release in December about its early signing class.

"The last couple years everybody has their National Signing Day parties, and it's a big deal, and then our guys are already in their first semester of college," Wright said. "So, we have been set up that way."

It's not for everybody.

Martin, Alabama's Mr. Football, received 49 carries in eight games with IMG Academy as a junior. He scored just four touchdowns, and returned to Decatur for his senior season. Back at home, Martin rushed for 33 touchdowns as a senior.

Speaking to the intense feelings that IMG Academy creates in high school coaches, here's part of a very awkward phone conversation I had with Decatur Austin coach Jeremy Perkins about his star running back, and the boarding school that borrowed him for a year.

"I'm not going to comment on someone else's school, positive or negative," Perkins said.

Did it help him?

"I don't know if I can answer that question," Perkins said. "He was a great player when he played for us as a 10th grader, and he was a great player when he played for us as a 12th grader."

Do you think Asa and his mom would like to talk to me about it?

"No."

Whether Perkins would like to admit it or not, it's a safe bet that Martin improved as a runner going up against a defensive line as fierce and talented as the one at IMG Academy. The boarding school also provides players with an elite education, access to world-class facilities and great coaches.

Wright, the current coach, won an Indiana state championship for a school in Indianapolis (home of the NCAA) before taking the job at IMG. Former FSU quarterback Chris Weinke was the coach before that. Weinke left IMG to be the quarterbacks coach for the Los Angeles Rams before joining Nick Saban's support staff as an offensive analyst.

"We don't have elective classes, it's all college prep," Wright said of the curriculum at IMG Academy. "We have summer programs. We're doing everything we can to put kids in position so they can graduate midterm, which, most Power 5 schools, they want kids to graduate early if they can, and that kind of has been a trend as you get stronger and stronger."

For teams like Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State, which send so many juniors to the NFL every years, restocking with freshmen who are ready to play is a necessity.

"You saw that with Alabama in the national championships with all the true freshmen that they're playing," Wright said.

Where would Alabama have been last season without Moses, the freshman linebacker from IMG Academy who stepped up for his injured teammates in important games? Would Alabama have won the national championship without freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, another early enrollee?

All five of Wright's elite defensive linemen from last season graduated early, and are now enrolled and taking classes at their Power 5 universities. The line featured Alabama's Stephon Wynn Jr., Ohio State's Taron Vincent, Clemson five-star Xavier Thomas, Georgia Tech surprise commitment T.K. Chimedza and Tennessee signee Kingston Harris.

Could you imagine facing such a formidable bunch of defenders in high school?

Alabama's best high school football team did, and got smoked. IMG Academy traveled to Birmingham last season and defeated Hoover 32-21 during the regular season.

Hoover offers high school football players something IMG Academy just can't compete with, though -- the thrill of high school football playoff games. Niblett went onto coach Hoover to another large-school state championship.

Joseph Goodman is a columnist for Alabama Media Group. He's on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr.

Editor's note: This column originally said Hoover coach Josh Niblett ripped his shirt off during a pep rally before Hoover played IMG Academy. Niblett ripped his shirt off before the Thompson game. We are happy to correct the record.