After a short stint with Reebok, Chris Fox returns to where his career took off

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Chris Fox isn’t one to give speeches. One of his former runners, Philo Germano, said stories need to be “pried” out of him. Yet, a day before the 2015 cross country National Championship, Fox fired up his team.

Syracuse’s men’s squad was packed inside a bus after taking a practice run. Then-sophomore Colin Bennie said Fox started talking about playing little league baseball. Fox explained how his mother used to shout profanities at the kids to get them to play better. Bennie remembered Fox ended the speech on a punchline “laced with expletives.”

“It was one of the only times I feel like we got that from coach Fox,” Bennie said. “It caught us all off guard, but got us so excited and so ready to just rip it the next day.”

That next day, Syracuse won its first-ever cross country National Championship, culminating Fox’s worst-to-first turnaround of the program. In 13 seasons, Fox developed 67 All-Americans between cross country and track & field. In the 2018 offseason, he retired to lead the Reebok Boston Track Club after the company revived its running programs. He spent five years coaching with Reebok before the company cut back on its running shoe line. Then, on Sept. 14, Fox returned to Syracuse as an assistant coach. He’s now working alongside his former assistant, and current head coach, Brien Bell.

“I think for him, it’s like his dream come true all over again,” said former SU runner Martin Hehir. “I think he really enjoyed (coaching professionally) but at the same time, he just missed college coaching.”

Reebok pushed for both Fox and former Syracuse standout Justyn Knight to help kick-start the program. Fox accepted the position with Reebok Boston in July 2018 and was allowed to hire an assistant of his choice. He extended the offer to Adam Smith, an assistant coach with Fox at Syracuse for six seasons.

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“We took the same attitude that we took in college. We wanted to be the best in the world,” Smith said. “When we first started, it looked like we had the resources and firepower (to do so).”

Fox and Smith utilized their SU connection to build Reebok Boston’s roster. Knight, Bennie, Hehir and Germano all signed with the club. While at Syracuse, Germano likened Fox’s coaching style to that of the professional environment at Reebok Boston.

Fox’s experience made it an easy decision for all of them to join. Germano said it’s hard to “break the barrier” of post-collegiate running without a mentor like Fox.

“The fact that he was going to be somewhere running a program, that’s the only place that we wanted to be,” Germano said. “It was really the only option because once you’re around him, you feel the presence of someone who’s an incredible coach, incredible person. So, it’s just really hard to get away from.”

While running is more individualized professionally, Fox focused on implementing a cohesive atmosphere in Boston. Bennie said at Syracuse, Fox emphasized the team over each individual performance.

“(Fox) had a really good approach to just making sure that everyone felt like they were a part of something bigger than themselves,” Bennie said. “Everyone was in it together, working toward a team goal.”

At Reebok, Fox and Smith’s athletes competed in events “all over the world,” from the United States to Europe and Qatar, Smith said. He and Fox went to as many races as they could.

Midway into Fox’s tenure, Smith said Reebok Boston took off. A few runners traveled to Chandler, Arizona, in December 2020 to compete in The Marathon Project. On the men’s side, Hehir and Bennie took home first and third place, respectively. On the women’s side, Syracuse graduate Paige Stoner ran a 2:28:43 marathon to place seventh. Stoner’s finish set an American record, becoming the fastest female marathon runner under the age of 25.

“Everybody that (Fox and I) met with every day were on the cusp of something pretty cool at the national level,” Smith said.

In August 2021, Authentic Brands Group (ABG) bought Reebok from Adidas. Several months later in 2022, Fox and Smith, now an assistant at Ole Miss, chose to leave after Reebok’s leadership change. Given the team’s upward trajectory, both coaches were disappointed with the abrupt ending.

“Honestly, we were rolling,” Smith said. “And I think if Reebok wouldn’t have gotten bought, we’d still be rolling.”

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All of a sudden, Fox was available. And Syracuse had an opening. In August, former SU assistant Griff Graves departed for Pittsburgh. So, Bell hired Fox — the man he had worked under for 13 years.

Hehir described Fox and Bell’s relationship as “yin and yang.” Fox is more laid back while Bell was always the guy enforcing the head coach’s message.

During the spring of Bennie’s final season at Syracuse in 2017, he went through a slump. After experiencing the highs of winning a national title a few years prior, Bennie said that he started doubting himself when races weren’t going his way.

Fox recognized Bennie needed to tweak his training. He let Bennie personalize his schedule. Bennie took things slower, skipping workouts when he needed and going on recovery runs during practice. Bennie said Fox’s willingness to adapt and listen helped him get back to where he wanted to be physically and mentally.

“I owe the entire development of my running career to coach Fox,” Bennie said. “You don’t always find that in a coach.”

For 13 years, Fox and Bell worked together, transforming SU’s program. Now, the two have switched roles. But their former players said their relationship won’t change.

Hehir has visited Syracuse multiple times since graduating. He’s caught up with Bell and met with players. He noticed the culture Fox implemented is “the same” as Bell’s. Bennie shared Hehir’s sentiment, citing his time with the program as to why Fox and Bell will maintain an unbreakable partnership.

“When coach Fox was (head coach), there was always more of a partnership as opposed to anything,” Bennie said. “There was not any kind of hierarchy to it. I feel like it’s going to be the exact same dynamic between the two of them.”