SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Former Syracuse football coach Dick MacPherson has died at 86.
The university said he died Tuesday in a Syracuse hospital with his family at his side. The cause of death was not released.
MacPherson resurrected a declining football program in the 1980s and restored Syracuse to national prominence before he returned to the NFL as head coach of the New England Patriots.
Known for his jocular personality and off-beat comments, MacPherson arrived at Syracuse before the 1981 season. The Orange had slumped through a decade of mediocrity, with only three winning seasons.