The spectrum of the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model consists of an infinite tower of operators, which resembles the spectra of various vector models that are holographically dual to higher spin gravity theories. In this talk, I will discuss a direct connection between SYK-like tensor models and the Gross-Neveu vector model. This is achieved by studying a toy model where a tensor field is coupled with some vector fields. By integrating out the tensor field, the toy model reduces to the Gross-Neveu model in 1 dimension. At a different corner of the moduli space of this toy model, a perturbation can be turned on and the toy model flows to an SYK-like model at low energy. In addition, a chaotic-nonchaotic phase transition is observed as the sign of the perturbation is altered. If time permitted, I will briefly discuss some aspects of supersymmetric SYK-like models.