Tino Sunseri – the son of former Tennessee defensive coordinator Sal Sunseri – is leaving Knoxville to accept a position with Nick Saban’s coaching staff at Alabama.
“I want to take the time to Thank Coach Pruitt for the opportunity at Tennessee,” Sunseri said in a Twitter announcement on Wednesday. “The Facility, Players, and fans were nothing but first class. In saying that, I am happy to announce I will be joining the University of Alabama Family. Roll Tide.”
Sunseri spent the last year working as a quality control assistant under Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt. Specifically, Sunseri spent time assisting former Tennessee offensive coordinator Tyson Helton in working with the quarterbacks.
In joining Saban’s staff, Sunseri will be teaming up with his father and his brother.
Earlier this month, Alabama hired Tino’s father to be the Crimson Tide’s defensive line coach. In addition to bringing in the older Sunseri, his brother Vinnie Sunseri – who played safety at Alabama – is also a graduate assistant for the Tide.
Sal Sunseri, Tino and Vinnie’s father, served as Tennessee’s defensive coordinator during Derek Dooley’s final season in Knoxville. That season, the Vols’ defense ranked dead last in the conference in most every major statistical category.
Tino was the starting quarterback at Pittsburgh from 2010-2012 before spending two years as a graduate assistant at Florida State. While at Tennessee, he also assisted with on-campus recruiting.
Sunseri is the second Vol coach to join Alabama’s staff this offseason. Tennessee’s safeties coach and special teams coordinator Charles Kelly left his role at UT to take on a similar job at Alabama a couple weeks ago.
