MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee first-year linebackers coach Siriki Diabate has a lot of familiarity with Syracuse, the Blue Raiders' Week 2 opponent.
It all started when he was 13. Diabate, his mother and a sister fled from violence in their native Ivory Coast to New York City, where he quickly found a love for football and sparked an interest in the university 4.5 hours to the north.
Since he had just two years of organized football playing experience under his belt, not a lot of schools came calling when Diabate graduated from Lehman High School.