Syracuse players venturing to Fort Drum for training camp will interact and train with troops and won’t have cellphone service.

But for head coach Scott Shafer, the time spent around military personnel has extra meaning to it.

He had two grandfathers who served in World War II, an uncle who was an airborne Ranger who was killed in Laos during the Vietnam War and a cousin who was killed in Iraq.

“I think for each and every one of us there’s different degrees,” Shafer said after Monday’s practice. “For me, it’s doing the right thing, giving back…

“I can’t wait to get up there and pay respect to those real men and women putting it on the line every day.”

For the third year in a row, the Orange is packing up and moving its training camp from Syracuse to Fort Drum, an army reservation located nearly 90 miles northeast up Interstate-81. The team is leaving Monday afternoon and will return Friday.

The players will be split into groups of six or seven and will be assigned to one of 12 sergeants of the 10th Mountain Division. The sergeants, not the SU assistant coaches, will conduct bed checks, breakfast checks and wake-up calls and will supervise the team’s activities throughout the day.

“We had that last year and I thought it was a great thing,” Shafer said. “And what I most look forward to is the opportunity for our players to look across the table at the real warriors and the real heroes right now in our society — especially up there at Fort Drum with that Mountain Division, a group of men and women who really go out there and kick ass for our country.”

On the field, SU has recognized the 10th Mountain Division by carrying the unit’s flag onto the field before each game the past two seasons. Former head coach Doug Marrone started the trend in training camp in 2012 and Shafer has continued it.

In addition to the team’s exposure to the military experience, the larger perspective the team can leave with is another reason Shafer cites for continuing to bring his program to Fort Drum.

“I think it’s a great way to teach one of the themes that I really believe in and that is that everything’s overrated,” Shafer said. “Everything’s overrated, except for your faith and your family and your friendships. Football, football games, playing this game is overrated. So let’s not take it too serious. Let’s not put ourselves in this tight mode where we get all tight and we don’t enjoy life.

“One thing that’s underrated is what those men and women do for us.”

Published on August 11, 2014 at 4:50 pm

Contact Phil: pmdabbra@syr.edu | @PhilDAbb