September had broken hot—sweat-slick and mean—the kind of heat that made the athletic fields shimmer like a mirage.

The bleachers were mostly empty this late in the afternoon, just a few stragglers pretending to study and a cluster of sorority girls pretending not to watch the football team run conditioning drills.

Below, the team moved in brutal synchronization—ladders, cones, sprint intervals. The coach’s whistle cut through the humidity like a blade.