FORT DRUM, N.Y. — The rain forced Syracuse to “call an audible.”

The original plan was for a joint workout between the Orange and Fort Drum military personnel to take place outside. Instead, SU assistant athletics director for athletic performance Will Hicks’ voice bounced off the walls of the Fort Drum “Commons” as he put everyone through a football routine.

And with Hicks and the rest of the program leading the troops through a new workout, the tight space drew the two groups together.

“Coach Shafer can say more about this all the time, but one of the big things we believe in is you always got to adapt to adjusting elements,” Hicks said. “We called an audible with the way the weather was and I think it worked out better than it would’ve been outside.

“It was a little more intimate, a little closer. You talk about hot yoga, that was a hot stretching class. It was a little rough in there.”

The Orange arrived at Fort Drum on Monday and it will start practices on Tuesday afternoon. SU head coach Scott Shafer wants his team to have military interaction every day, and Tuesday’s dose was Hicks’ indoor workout. Hicks said that since Syracuse is going to be following the military’s lead for most of the week, he and Shafer wanted to take a chance to show them what SU is all about.

They certainly did that, as a bevy of core and leg exercises proved difficult for the troops.

“They can carry 60-pound backpacks but some of them couldn’t do high knees,” senior linebacker Dyshawn Davis said. “They thought they were doing it right but some of them looked funny doing it.”

After some cool-down stretching, Davis led his team and the troops through the same ritual the Orange repeats before every practice (video below). The troops were hesitant to join in at first, but by the end of the post-workout huddle they were dancing and hugging the players.

“It was great. Them guys don’t even get that loud for practice,” Davis said. “Then we come here and work out with these guys and everyone wants to get all loud and excited…

“I felt it. It felt good being in there getting the crowd right. The soldiers were in there jumping around and getting pretty excited as well. It was a great experience.”

Published on August 12, 2014 at 1:11 pm

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse