In a matter of minutes, George McDonald and the Syracuse offensive sideline ran a full gamut of emotions.

First came excitement. McDonald, the Orange’s offensive coordinator, sprinted up the field with Charley Loeb after a rollout and took the quarterback down the left sideline before meeting him for a hug and pat on the back.

Then bubbling anticipation. Loeb barely overthrew an open Quinta Funderburk streaking across the middle of the field. McDonald and the rest of the sideline erupted, cheering for the near-perfect throw.

Finally, frustration. A botched handoff resulted in a scoop and score for Micah Robinson. The exasperated McDonald held his hands on his head as he watched Robinson and the SU defense celebrate its score.

Tuesday in the Carrier Dome marked the first football practice of the spring season, and McDonald and the Orange already showcased the energy they expect to be a staple come fall.

“He almost tackled me,” Loeb said with a grin as he raved about his energetic offensive coordinator. “He was the only one that brought me down, I think.

“When you see a guy like that jumping up and down, it gets you going. It makes you want to play football.”

McDonald helps bring a new, high-energy look to the Syracuse sidelines as part of first-year head coach Scott Shafer’s new coaching staff.

Practice started with a team huddle before individual position drills. Midway through, it switched to seven-on-seven. That’s where the intensity picked up.

“We should be a little bit upset after mistakes and we should be excited after big plays, and I think that’ll be a big difference this year,” running back Jerome Smith said. “We’ll be celebrating a little bit more.”

But the individual position drills were still more intense than ever. Not much of the specific scheme will be picked up in the spring, but the rhythm and pace of Shafer’s offense will, which means everything is fast.

“After individual period, what we call it, and before seven-on-seven, I was dead-dog tired. I don’t think that’s ever happened to me before,” Loeb said. “We’re running everywhere. Everything we do full speed, full pace, running, I was tired, literally tired before the team periods of practice even start.”

The intensity meant celebrations after long completions, potential touchdowns and takeaways for the defense. It meant McDonald yelling at his players after mental mistakes and other gaffes. And it meant visible frustration from the quarterbacks – Loeb, Terrel Hunt and John Kinder are locked in a heated position battle – after any miscue.

After consecutive incompletions, Hunt held his arms out, palms raised to the Dome roof as his inconsistent day continued. At times, the quarterback struggled mightily, with deep throws in particular, but at other times, he was fantastic at managing the offense and evading the blitz. He put his early struggles behind him and finished on a positive note as the offense began to click.

“(Shafer) wants tough guys that are going to be physical,” wide receiver Jarrod West said. “He said a story — you’d rather play with 10 guys and get a penalty every time than play with 11 if somebody’s slacking off.”

Part of the seven-on-seven drills on Tuesday consisted of two-minute drills, a simulation of the most intense part of the game. Even on the first day of the 2013 season, Shafer already had his team working on every aspect of the game. Just like the system he hopes to run, the start of SU’s season was high-energy, high-speed and high-intensity.

As the seven-on-seven drills winded down, Loeb found himself once again taking snaps. He dropped back and fired a pass deep over the middle to Alvin Cornelius. The wide receiver caught the ball in stride with a clear path to the end zone. The horn sounded, signifying the end of the drill. Players poured from the offensive sideline onto the field, celebrating Loeb’s perfect pass that ended the drill on a high note.

“It was good energy,” Loeb said, “real good energy, especially first day.”