Offensive Analyst Tino Sunseri Accepts QB Coaching Job at JMU
Alabama football offensive analyst Tino Sunseri, who has been with the program since 2019, has announced on Twitter that he will be accepting the quarterback coaching position at FCS powerhouse James Madison University.
Sunseri, who played quarterback at Pittsburgh until 2012, served as a quality control specialist at Tennessee and Florida State before coming to Alabama. He had been working mostly with the quarterbacks and directly under 2020 Broyles Award winner, former offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian.
Sunseri was hired by a familiar face at JMU, as head coach Curt Cignetti served on Nick Saban's original coaching staff at Alabama until 2010. Cignetti was a critical piece to the early foundation of the Alabama dynasty, serving as the wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator.
Along with recruiting and coaching Julio Jones, Cignetti recruited stars such as Mark Ingram and Dont'a Hightower and helped to lead the Crimson Tide to their first national title since 1992.
The Sunseri family has deep roots in Tuscaloosa. Tino's father Sal Sunseri is currently the outside linebackers coach at Alabama, and his brother is former Alabama defensive back and graduate assistant Vinny Sunseri, who moved onto the NFL to serve as a defensive assistant for the New England Patriots before the 2020 season.
Sunseri will look to help continue to build on the foundation that coach Cignetti has begun to lay at JMU. The Dukes are 21-3 in the two seasons since Cignetti's arrival. In his first season in 2019, they lost in the FCS national championship to North Dakota State. Earlier this month, they lost in the semi-finals to eventual champions Sam Houston.
James Madison has not won an FCS national title since 2016, and Sunseri will now look to end the drought for the Dukes along with another former member of the Alabama family.