Posted by: Chris Vannini on August 19, 2012

Syracuse players had their chance to take out some frustration on coaches, as the Orange held an intrasquad paintball tournament at Fort Drum on Friday.

The team was split into four groups of 30, with the team consisting of the coaches and linebackers getting the victory. Running backs coach Tyrone Wheatley was awarded the MVP.

"All of the players on the other team wanted to aim at the coaches so we protected them behind the barrier," linebacker Dyshawn Davis told Syracuse's official team site.

The Orange spent the past week of fall camp at the Army reservation and had fun with paintball before a scrimmage on Saturday. The week at the fort was valuable, but Doug Marrone expressed concern about his team's scrimmage play with just two weeks until the season-opener.

"We're not ready to play right now in game-like conditions," Marrone said. "Obviously, we need to make some vast improvement."

Still, "Operation Orange Partnership" appears to have been a success. Asked if he would like to do the trip again, Marrone said he'd love to, but couldn't make a guarantee because it would depend on a variety of factors.

"When the General came up and spoke to our team in the beginning, he talked about a sense of community as far as the Army," Marrone said. "He talked to us about the players having an appreciation for what the military does for us with both men and women. I know walking away from here, the military will be in our thoughts daily with what they do for our country."

Syracuse opens the season against Northwestern on Sept. 1.

Watch a video of the paintball action here.

Below is a video of Syracuse's offseason workouts.

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Chris Vannini is a lead writer for CoachingSearch.com and has covered Michigan State sports for The State News, The Oakland Press and MLive.com. He writes a weekly column for the Detroit Free Press on behalf of SB Nation. Vannini lives in Big Ten country, so his foot speed is far from SEC caliber, but his pulse on coaches is hard to match. Be sure to follow @CoachingBuzz on twitter and send your feedback to chris@coachingsearch.com