Sean Tucker to make Syracuse track debut this weekend

After saying he had planned to spend his off-season with the Syracuse Orange track and field team Sean Tucker is now entered to compete in his first collegiate race. As reported by Nate Mink of Syracuse.com, Tucker has been working out the with the Orange and will compete this Friday night at Virginia Tech.

A star football player competing in track and field at Syracuse is rare in recent years but Orange legends such as Jim Brown, Joe Morris, and Art Monk were involved both sports during their time in the Cuse. I was a teammate of Qadry Ismail, who was an All-American hurdler and Donovin Darius who competed in the 400m hurdles during my time with the track program. They weren’t alone as a number of players would participate in track and field as part of their off-season training. As football training has become more specialized with the addition of multiple strength and conditioning coaches for the team this two-sport athlete has diminished but maybe Tucker will be the one to bring it back.

No shade directed to the football staff but Tucker spending the winter working with Dave Hegland can help his flexibility and explosiveness. Hegland has coached NCAA Champions, All-Americans and Olympians and his focus on sprint technique can help Tucker become even more effective on the football field.

Tucker wasn’t caught in the open field by too many defenders last season but with an eye on the NFL the ability to hit top speed quicker, or to have the flexibility to make those quick cuts becomes even more important. You’ll have to forgive us if the thought of a more explosive Tucker running behind a healthy Chris Elmore gets us a bit more excited for the 2022 season.