Orange Close Fort Drum Week with Paintball

The final day at Fort Drum gave the Orange an opportunity to get away from some of the structure they've had this week and let loose on the paintball field.

Syracuse held its annual paintball tournament to conclude the week's festivities and ended it with a game of the coaches and military personnel against the seniors, with the student-athletes coming out on top.

"We just wanted to light the coaches up the best we could," said senior defensive lineman Robert Welsh. "To be honest, if we got hit we were going to stay in and keep shooting."

Senior linebacker Cameron Lynch took the opportunity to get some payback on the coaches.

"We saw the coaches come behind us and all got a good shot on coach Lea my linebackers coach," Lynch said. "We had fun out there man, it was a great way to go off for our seniors and a great way to end our time at Fort Drum."

One of the highlights of the day amongst the team was the play of defensive line coach Tim Daoust, who ran through a wooden barricade to collapse the hiding spot of a number of seniors, including Welsh, who subsequently eliminated Daoust.

"It felt good, I'm not going to lie," Welsh said. "We were jawing a bit before the game so when he ran over the barricade that I was under I knew it had to be him, so I got up and kept shooting. I think I emptied my paintball gun on coach Daoust so that was great."

For Welsh, the day was a great conclusion of his third trip to Fort Drum.

"We learned a lot that we can bring back to Syracuse and bring back to football," Welsh said. "It's a great learning experience to work as a team and it's great for leadership qualities as well. You learn how to be a leader. Guys who may not have been a leader learn how to become leaders so it's a great experience."

The Orange will now pack up and bring camp back to Syracuse for the final two weeks before the season opener.

Cuse Gives Back

After another morning of learning from the 2^nd Brigade Combat Team, Thursday night was Cuse's chance to give back to the Fort Drum community.

The Orange held their annual kids clinic from the youth football players of Fort Drum before scrimmaging in front of the soldiers and their families.

"This is the second year that I've been up here for and it was a great experience for all of them," said Fort Drum Mighty Mights' coach Charles Crawford. "It's great for them to see the older guys at it because our kids come out of this and say 'I want to go to college' and 'I want to be like them' so they're coming up and being role models so that's a good thing."

The clinic consisted of the young players rotating in groups through drills set up by each position group. The offensive line's group where the pop warner players were able to hit the blocking shields held by the Syracuse student-athletes were the favorite drill of the Mighty Mights.

"The hitting was definitely their favorite," Crawford said. "When they got with the linemen and they were knocking them down and the cheering and the motivational stuff afterwards – that was great for them."

While this was the Orange's opportunity to give back to their hosts for the week, head coach Scott Shafer thinks they once again benefitted from the experience.

"Once again great experience here at Fort Drum," Shafer said. "The kids camp was wonderful. Seeing those little pee-wee kids running around and our kids spending time with them was great."

Syracuse will close its time at Fort Drum tomorrow morning with one final activity with the soldiers – a paintball match.

Top Articles from Aug. 14 on the Orange:

Syracuse.com: Williams Shines and six other observations from the scrimmage

Orange Fizz: Syracuse Can Only Go Up from Here

Cuse Confidential: Orange Enjoying Fort Drum Trip

ESPN: Davis Impacts Syracuse Off the Field as Well

Daily Orange: Broyld Looks Like a Go-To Option and Other Scrimmage Observations
Daily Orange: Shafer Addresses Kids After Clinic

Lieutenant Colonel Brian T. Beckno Addresses Team

Orange Appreciate the Experience

Senior running back Prince-Tyson Gulley is no stranger to the military. His mother Shellaree Bradford serves in the Navy and his brother Toneo plays football at the U.S. Naval Academy.

The family ties have allowed him to fully appreciate his time on post and the Fort Drum experience.

“Since my mom joined, I see it from a fully different perspective,” Gully said. “Coming up here is real big to me because I know what they do because I’ve seen it first hand with my mother. She’s gone all day just 

working and protecting our country – it’s a big deal. So when we come up here I make sure that I show love to them because I know how big of a deal it is and the time you have to put in. That’s why it’s always a big deal to me because I know what they do even if it’s a different branch of service.”

For senior quarterback Terrel Hunt, the experience is different this time around. Having previously made two trips to Fort Drum, this is his first time at the post as the starter. On top of the military interaction, Hunt feels interacting with his own teammates, especially the freshmen is one of the biggest benefits of the trip.

“The army interaction and time here has helped because you don’t know the freshmen that well, but we’re learning,” Hunt said. “I’m able to work with them, I’m able to talk with them and I’m able to get to know them on a personal basis. That helps a lot”

The Orange have its final full day on post tomorrow, where they will get an opportunity to host a clinic for the children at Fort Drum.

Top Articles from Aug. 13 on the Orange:
Nunes Magician: Eskridge Journey Featured
Cuse Nation Blog: Hodge Poised for Breakout Season
Syracuse.com: Fort Drum Relationship will Continue to Strengthen

Orange Learn Leadership Skills at Fort Drum

The Orange's leadership, teamwork and communication skills were put to the test on Wednesday as the student-athletes were tasked with completing a number of courses and challenges under the watch of members of the 2^nd Brigade Combat Team.

The student-athletes were broken up into five different groups in the morning, where members of the team had to lead each other through a maze while blindfolded, work together to transport a 180 lb. casualty dummy over 400-yards, move through a rope web without touching it, a memory challenge and suspending themselves together as a group in a still position for over a minute.

"The most tiring was using a tire, a pole and a wooden plank to move a 180-pound casualty person across a 200-yard field and back," said senior linebacker Josh Kirkland. "We had to make everything work in harmony, so it was hard to do. It was all the little details and communicating at the same time so we needed a lot of team work.

"The biggest thing is when you begin to get fatigued you start to lose your mental game. That was the biggest variable into this. They wanted us to get tired so that you lose your memory or communication, so that's what we were working on."

The challenges were designed to test the student-athletes' abilities to work in conjunction with one another to communicate and complete tasks under pressure, something SGT Dylan McElhinny thinks the team can use going forward.

"It's an absolutely great opportunity to get our organizations together to do a joint training exercise," Sgt. McElhinny said. "Both of us are very team oriented. We both use team work and leadership to get our jobs done and it's just absolutely great for us to get to share our knowledge with them and hang out with the Syracuse football team."

Following the leadership exercises, members of the 2^nd Brigade Combat Team led the Orange on a march back for lunch where they once again dined with members of the 10^th Mountain Division.

The Orange will take the field for practice this afternoon.

Related Links:
Cuse.com: Photo Gallery from Day 3 at Fort Drum

Steel Beams Go Up for Indoor Practice Facility

Syracuse's new indoor practice facility is literally off the ground. Steel beams began to go into place at the construction site on Wednesday, as the foundation is almost complete. Senior associate athletics director/facility operations Pete Sala provided an update on the project as local media were invited to come see the progress at the site. Sala says Dec. 1 is the target date for construction to be complete on the facility that will be a "game-changer" for Syracuse athletics, benefitting all Orange programs.

Renderings

Major points from the construction update:

• Target date of Dec. 1 for construction to be completed
• Construction of steel beams will take approximately eight weeks
• Shell of the facility and interior work will commence in November
• FieldTurf has already been purchased and will be delivered in November
• Floor space will be 405 x 215 feet, exactly the same as the Carrier Dome
• Ceiling will be 45 feet high at eves and 65 feet high in the center
• Outside is designed to aesthetically match the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center
• "Plaza 44" will be located in front of the building, featuring three statues
• Front of facility will have team rooms to be used by the soccer stadium

Orange Build Relationships at Fort Drum

Fostering relationships was the theme for the Orange on Tuesday when the team spent its first full day at Fort Drum, with Syracuse meeting new faces of the 2nd Brigade Combat team – the team's host this year – and looking forward to rekindling relationships with troops from previous visits.

Syracuse had its first interactions with members of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team during a morning workout and lunch prior to the team's first practice on post.

Col. David Doyle -- the unit's commander -- formally welcomed head coach Scott Shafer and the Orange to Fort Drum following practice.

"On behalf of Major General Townsend and the 10th Mountain Division and Fort Drum, it's my honor to welcome the Syracuse football team here to our installation as they prepare for their upcoming season," Doyle said. "We've had a long relationship with the Syracuse football team thanks to coach's efforts and the unit that previously handled this responsibility just came back from Afghanistan and we're very fortunate to have accepted this role on their behalf.

"Our unit is working in close conjunction with them as they prepare for their season that's coming up. Our soldiers are interacting with them, we've got some outstanding leader development opportunities ahead of us, where the coaching staff is going to speak with our leaders and I think at the end of the day this relationship will continue to strengthen and we'll see more opportunities for the soldiers, student-athletes and the Syracuse coaching staff to continue to work with the North Country community."

With a large portion of the week dedicated to the Orange developing relationships with the troops, Shafer expressed his excitement that some of the soldiers that the team had previously interacted with coming back to post.

"I just want to say thanks so much to the Colonel and to General Townsend for having us back. It's exciting to hear that the troops are coming back. I know we had a big deployment after we were here last year so it's great to hear that they're coming back and hopefully we can rekindle some of those relationships. I can't even begin to tell you how much we appreciate not only being here, but the comradery between the troops. This morning we had a great opportunity with some of your men and women and it was a great opportunity for us to mingle."

Shafer reiterated the importance of the Orange's trip to Fort Drum and the lessons that the student-athletes learn from their time on post.

"It's easy to feel sorry for yourself when you're in two-a-days, and I'd imagine the troops have those moments of weakness when they're in boot camp," Shafer said. "But for our guys to sit across from the troops and realize 'hey, he's 21, I'm 21. He's up in the mountains of Afghanistan so I can go out and play football."

The Orange will continue their preseason camp at Fort Drum on Wednesday, with another joint activity with the 2^nd Brigade Combat Team in the morning.