Syracuse, N.Y. -- As football coaches are wont to do, Matt Patricia is bringing the 2001 Syracuse football gang back together as head coach of the Detroit Lions.
Patricia, who was an offensive graduate assistant at SU from 2001-03, will have at least six former colleagues from Central New York on his staff.
"That Syracuse connection is really tight," Patricia told MLive.com. "In fact, at the combine, we'd always try to have a Syracuse night, and we'd have like 45 guys show up. We'd just get together and talk about stuff and maintain those connections, and that was important to us.