As soon as Chris Fehrle slipped on a Syracuse uniform, his soccer skills were mature beyond their years. The trouble was it took Fehrle’s demeanor four years and 493 miles to catch up.

In his first two seasons with the Syracuse men’s soccer team, Fehrle earned a reputation as one of the Big East’s best defenders. Along with it, SU head coach Dean Foti said Fehrle developed a reputation for being cocky.

Some insist that cocky is too strong an adjective, and confident and hot-headed fit better. Four years of maturation and a bench-warming experience at Virginia later, Fehrle’s morphed from a brash youngster into one of SU’s leaders.

After transferring to Virginia for the 2001 season, Fehrle transferred back to SU and sat out last fall. He should be a starter for the Orangemen in the fall.

“He’s more humble now,” senior Ryan Hall said. “He doesn’t take as much for granted.”

It’s easy to see why Fehrle could be construed as cocky. His soccer upbringing is purebred. He was a member of the U.S. Olympic Development Program and a two-time Parade All-American. He was a member of a prestigious club team, and in his freshman year, Fehrle was the only unanimous selection to the Big East All-Rookie Team.

Before Fehrle began his freshman year at SU, in 1999, teammates said he needed to be a vocal leader on defense.

Fehrle, though, listened too well.

“Some people took it as arrogance,” said John Andrade, a sophomore in 1999. “He’d say things, and people would take it the wrong way.”

While Fehrle’s position demanded he take an active role in communication, older Orangemen bristled at the way Fehrle gave commands.

“It’s one of those things where he’s a freshman, and freshmen aren’t supposed to come in and be that vocal,” senior defender Eric Chapman said. “It’s just something you don’t do your first year.”

During a 3-0 loss to Notre Dame on Sept. 16, 2000, Syracuse trailed by three goals with 20 minutes left. With Syracuse’s offense dominating, Fehrle felt the Orangemen could win until then-freshman Kirk Johnson missed an open goal.

“The entire way down the field, Chris just chewed him out,” Hall said.

Fehrle, who had known Johnson for about six years, said he spent the entire year trying to spur on the talented attacker with verbal barbs.

“I’ll take the blame for that,” Fehrle said of the strained relationship with his now close friend. “Kirk thought I was always yelling at him the whole time. Maybe I was.”

While Fehrle aimed to help Johnson reach his potential, his methods didn’t sit well with his teammates.

The day after the Notre Dame game, which SU lost, 3-0, seniors Mario Cristofori and Sean Boyle held a team meeting at their apartment. They discussed the incident in generalities: Certain players were being too negative, certain players’ attitudes weren’t helping the team.

Although no names were used, Fehrle knew the comments were leveled at him.

“I remember that meeting vividly,” Fehrle said. “I just lost it. I didn’t want to be known as the team that had all the talent and wasted it.”

Although Syracuse sputtered to an 8-9-2 record, barely qualifying for the Big East tournament, Fehrle’s talent was obvious.

Throughout the season, friends and former teammates told him that attending an ACC school would enable him to reach his professional-soccer ambitions. (Last year, 10 of Soccer America Magazine’s top 25 recruits went to ACC schools.)

The day Fehrle returned from Winter Break, he began telling teammates that he planned on transferring to Virginia. Chapman, Hall and Chris Aloisi, then sophomores, expressed disappointment but understood. Most of the team reacted the same way.

“You get angry at certain points,” Hall said. “I’m sure everybody was a little angry. At the same time, we understood his goals and tried to be supportive. But it’s hard not to be angry.”

Others felt Fehrle’s brash attitude had jumped another notch. Not only was he pulling rank on the team. Now, he thought he was too good for it.

“Some people took it as him saying, ‘I’m too good for this program,’ ” Chapman said.

The rest of the year, the time spent in Chapman, Hall and Fehrle’s apartment was difficult. Fehrle withdrew from his friends to make his switch easier emotionally.

“You know those hung-over Saturday mornings?” Chapman said. “Those were pretty tense. We couldn’t really talk about our team because, what did he care? And we didn’t want to talk about Virginia.”

When Fehrle left for Virginia, he thought he’d receive ample playing time. Instead, by the end of summer scrimmages, Fehrle realized time would be scarce.

Fehrle said Virginia head coach George Gelnovatch’s loyalty to UVa’s veteran players, along with Gelnovatch’s biased opinion of the quality of Big East players, contributed to Fehrle’s lack of playing time.

Fehrle finally got on the field for Virginia’s final six games, starting three, after one of UVa’s starters was hurt.

“When they saw me, it was kind of like, ‘Oh, look, he really can play,’ ” Fehrle said. “Fans, parents, even coaches were like that.”

Gelnovatch had reasons for his decision. The Cavaliers had one of the nation’s best defenses, finishing 2001 with 11 shutouts, and held conference opponents scoreless during the regular season.

“I think it was a step up for him as far as the conference went and the players on the team went,” Gelnovatch said. “He clearly wasn’t one of the four best players, and I don’t substitute much on defense. It was bad timing. If I had him this year, he’d probably start for us.”

After Fehrle made it through, “the worst few months of my life,” because he missed playing and his friends, he called Foti and asked to return. Realizing the impact Fehrle’s presence would make, Foti talked to players and asked for their thoughts.

Fehrle had stayed close with his class, talking to Chapman and Aloisi nearly three times a week. Two of the other classes hadn’t met him and had no grudge.

“I looked at our team, and I felt he’d be a good addition, as long as the team was all right with it,” Foti said. “That was my biggest concern: How was the team going to react? At the end of the day, after talking about it, everyone was OK with it.”

Because he transferred twice, Fehrle was forced to sit out last season. Rather than dole out orders from the back, he gave them from the stands.

Aloisi said Fehrle’s competitive nature and high expectations haven’t changed. The main reasons for his lukewarm reception, those competitive traits that caused the lapse of control and a team meeting, are now reason for praise rather than scorn.

“He’s doing what he’s always done,” Aloisi said. “You always need a voice in the back. But now that he’s one of the older members of the team, nobody sees anything wrong with it.”

On Saturday, after losing, 2-0, in a scrimmage to the Syracuse Salt Dogs, a professional A-League club, Syracuse seemed content with the effort. Not Fehrle.

“We played better than we have,” he said. “Most of the guys seemed pretty happy with the effort. But you should never be happy when you lose. No matter who it’s against.”

During Saturday’s contest, Fehrle’s criticisms were more restrained than three years ago. After allowing the second goal, Fehrle and Aloisi lectured the defense on what had gone wrong. As in previous years, Fehrle’s arms and hands flew in all directions, like an overwhelmed traffic cop at rush hour. But this time, something was different.

“I’ve learned how to handle people better,” Fehrle said. “Take me for instance. To me, getting yelled at is natural. But there are certain people you have to push different ways.”

On Saturday, after gathering the defense and calmly explaining what went wrong, Fehrle paused and clapped his hands twice.

“All right, keep your heads up,” Fehrle called out. Minutes later, he was praising the play of SU sophomore forward Rob Alexander.

“He’s a born leader,” Chapman said of Fehrle. “You don’t find many of those in soccer.”

And now, thanks to a second chance, Fehrle is leading SU the right way.

Published on April 21, 2003 at 12:00 pm