The compass represents a memory.

Scott Shafer’s uncle died in Vietnam. His cousin was killed in Iraq. The compass is a trinket passed on from that late uncle, but also a window into the values the Syracuse head coach preaches.

Discipline. Drive. Hard work. Brotherhood.

Shafer gave the compass to his son, Wolfgang. It’s a representation of the military background that he could take with him as a quarterback at Division-III Ithaca this year.

As the Orange travels to Fort Drum, N.Y., for its second week of training camp, the elder Shafer is giving his team a chance to appreciate that bond as well as interact with military members for the second straight preseason.

“It is personal for me,” Shafer said. “The appreciation I have for the military – I can’t express how much I appreciate them.”

SU traveled to Fort Drum on Monday to begin a week of practice at the Military base on Tuesday. Activity will begin with military personnel on Tuesday at 11:15 a.m. and conclude on Friday morning. Between those interactions, Syracuse will practice Tuesday and Wednesday before finishing football activities with a scrimmage on Thursday at 7 p.m.

“I come from a family that’s had a lot of military in their background,” Shafer said. “So it’s a chance for us to go and maybe give something back to some people in the military.”

It really isn’t such a surprise that Shafer comes from a family of military history. Successful coaches are cut from a similar cloth — the traits that make a good coach reflect those that make a fine military officer.

Shafer wants to instill those values in his team. A visit to Fort Drum, a tradition started by Doug Marrone last season before he bolted for the Buffalo Bills, can teach it those things, plus perspective.

“It’s hard for a kid to go to bed and feel sorry for himself when he’s talking to a kid at dinner or at lunch, or listening to a guy speak that’s been flying over to Afghanistan and hanging out in the mountains getting shot at, trying to defend our freedoms,” Shafer said.

“It’s hard for my guy to feel selfish when he goes to bed at night. So for us, selfishly, that’s something we get out of it.”

There’s another trait that soldiers embody and Shafer reflects to the point that he’s almost become a caricature of himself: energy.

Without the level of energy and passion that SU fans have grown accustomed, there is no Scott Shafer as he is currently known. Usually there are few who can match his passion. At Fort Drum, Shafer’s part of the norm.

“He’s a high energy guy,” said John Kinder, the quarterback turned wide receiver. “He likes all the ‘Hoorah’ that they bring when they’re waking us up a 6 o’clock in the morning, screaming at us. He eats that stuff up.”

And as for that perspective, that’s not lost on Syracuse either.

Terrel Hunt was way down the quarterback depth chart when the Orange went to Fort Drum last year. This year, he’s competing for the starting job against Drew Allen, an Oklahoma transfer from San Antonio.

There’s a perspective to take on that, as well.

“People from all over the world come together,” Hunt said. “They don’t know each other from a hole in the wall, but they could fight in the battle and be brothers at one time.”

But it ultimately comes down to appreciation. That’s why the compass was the first thing he mentioned when asked about what the trip will mean to him.

Shafer appreciates what the military does for the country. And when his team is in Fort Drum, he wants to make those military men feel appreciated as well.

“We owe it to them to get off the bus and bust our ass,” Shafer said, “so if those guys get an hour to come out and watch us practice I want them to be able to say, ‘You know what? They’re not dodging bullets, but goddogit, they frickin’ play their ass off.’”

Published on August 13, 2013 at 6:00 am

Contact David: dbwilson@syr.edu | @DBWilson2