Syracuse honoring Dick MacPherson with special patch

By AP
Published

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) Syracuse University is honoring the late Dick MacPherson during the 2017 football season.

A blue patch with ''Mac'' inscribed in orange will be sewn on the team jerseys, and the logo will be painted on the Carrier Dome field to celebrate his life.

MacPherson, who resurrected a program in the 1980s that had fallen from the upper echelons of college football's top division, died in early August at 86.

MacPherson was named Syracuse coach in 1981 and produced a 66-46-4 record, including a 3-0-1 mark in bowl games during his 10-year tenure. He also had just the second unbeaten team in program history when the 1987 squad went 11-0 in the regular season and then tied Auburn 16-16 in the Sugar Bowl to finish the year ranked fourth. He was the consensus pick for national coach of the year that season.

After the 1990 season, MacPherson was named head coach of the NFL's New England Patriots. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2009.

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