Tag: Vinnie Sunseri

Former Saints draft pick, Alabama football star takes high-profile college coaching job

Former Saints draft pick and Alabama football star Vinnie Sunseri has taken a high-profile college coaching job at Washington:

Here’s some good news for a former New Orleans Saints draft pick: Vinnie Sunseri has taken a high-profile college coaching job as the Washington Huskies safeties coach, where he’ll be tasked with developing the next generation of defensive backs at a West Coast powerhouse with national championship ambitions.

Things have come full circle. Sunseri was a standout at Alabama during his own college playing career, and Alabama’s decision to hire Washington’s former head coach Kalen DeBoer led to a lot of turnover for the Huskies coaching staff.

Sunseri, 32, was picked by the Saints in the fifth round of the 2014 NFL draft. But he struggled to get on the field after dealing with a series of injuries. He finished his NFL playing career with the New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers.

After hanging up his cleats, Sunseri began a coaching career at Alabama as a graduate assistant; he returned to the Patriots in 2020 to get more experience, where he first worked with the defense before moving to the offensive side of the ball for three years coaching running backs. Now he’s going back to his roots with much more responsibility under new Washington head coach Jedd Fisch.

The job comes with high expectations. Washington is fresh off a national title bid, and the school has sent many defensive backs to the NFL draft in recent years; Trent McDuffie and Kyler Gordon were both top-50 picks in 2022, while Elijah Molden was selected at No. 100 overall (followed by Keith Taylor in the fifth round) in 2021. Byron Murphy and Taylor Rapp were each second-round picks in 2019 with Jordan Miller also drafted in the fifth round. Sunseri will be charged with recruiting and developing players to follow in their footsteps. Good luck to him.

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Former Alabama safety Vinnie Sunseri hired as Washington’s safeties coach

Former Alabama safety Vinnie Sunseri will be the new Washington safeties coach. Prior to joining the Huskies, Sunseri served as a member of the New England Patriots coaching staff.

It seems like just yesterday that Alabama safety Vinnie Sunseri picked off former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel. Fast forward almost 11 years and Sunseri is the new safties coach at the University of Washington.

It has come full circle for the former Alabama standout. Sunseri’s father, Sal has served as an assistant coach since 1985. His brother, Tino played football and is now the quarterbacks coach at Indiana.

Vinnie began his cooaching career in 2019 at Alabama. In 2020, he joined the New England Patriots coaching staff as a defensive coaching assistant. In 2021, he was promoted to running backs coach where he served for the past three seasons in Foxborough.

Now, Sunseri will be joining Jedd Fisch’s staff at Washington and serving as the team’s safeties coach. It will be the first time that Sunseri has served as a position coach on the defensive side of the ball. Needless to say, it will be interesting to see the level of talent that Sunseri attracts to Seattle and how well he develops the safeties for the next level.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow the latest regarding the Alabama football program.

Another Patriots coach reportedly joining Steve Belichick in Washington

Steve Belichick is getting some company in his move to Washington

Another former New England Patriots coach will be joining Steve Belichick at the University of Washington. Running backs coach Vinnie Sunseri will leave New England to join Jedd Fisch’s coaching staff, according to a report from The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman.

Sunseri has served in a multitude of roles over his coaching career. He began his career in New England as a defensive assistant in 2020. He then spent the last three seasons as New England’s running backs coach.

The Patriots have yet to name a new running backs coach for the 2024 season. So Sunseri going off to Washington means they’ll have another position to fill, as they continue to revamp their coaching staff.

Per ESPN’s Field Yates, Sunseri’s role is expected to be in the defensive backfield for the Huskies.

The winds of change have hit the Patriots hard with Bill Belichick no longer running things. Instead, they have replaced the legendary coach with Jerod Mayo as the new head coach and the combination of Matt Groh and Eliot Wolf to oversee the personnel decisions.

It will be interesting to see what the staff and overall roster looks like when all is said and done.

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Patriots’ 2023 coaching staff with job titles

Here’s the Patriots’ 2023 coaching staff with job titles

New England Patriots training camp starts next week, and the organization revealed the roles for the coaches in the upcoming season.

There are several familiar faces back on the coaching staff, as well as new additions. Some of the more notable roles include Joe Judge as the assistant head coach and Evan Rothstein as the assistant quarterbacks coach.

The staff shakeup comes on the heels of a difficult 2022 season for New England, who missed the playoffs for the second time in three years. They’re hopeful the new-look staff can create the necessary changes to get the Patriots back into postseason contention.

Here’s the coaching staff expected to lead the way to change in 2023:

Ex-Saints draft pick Vinnie Sunseri now working on Patriots staff

Former New Orleans Saints draft pick and Alabama graduate assistant Vinnie Sunseri was hired by the New England Patriots, per a report.

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A former member of the New Orleans Saints is on the move. AL.com’s Matt Zenitz reported that Vinnie Sunseri, a 2014 fifth-round draft pick by the Saints, was hired by the New England Patriots in a support staff role. Sunseri spent the 2019 season as a graduate assistant at Alabama, his alma mater. He’s now reunited with Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who took a flyer on Sunseri after the Saints cut him in 2016.

Sunseri was known for his special teams aptitude in college, and primarily tried out there for New Orleans. But the same injury issues that dogged him at Alabama continued into the NFL, with each of his first two seasons ending on the injured reserve list. He competed at the 2016 training camp with the Patriots and made a cameo with the San Francisco 49ers late in that season, but hadn’t played a down since San Francisco waived him during 2017 roster cuts.

He’ll presumably take the Joe Judge path to his future as a head coach, helping out with Belichick’s storied special teams department and diligently climbing the ladder. Sunseri’s father is an accomplished assistant coach in his own right and currently works with linebackers at Alabama, so this side of the ball isn’t new to him. It’s just a shame things didn’t work out for him in New Orleans.

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Former Alabama safety Vinnie Sunseri joins Patriots staff

Vinnie Sunseri was a part of the Patriots’ practice squad in 2016, and now he’ll be returning to New England, this time though, he’ll be apart of the Patriots’ staff. Aug 31, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide defensive back Vinnie Sunseri …

Vinnie Sunseri was a part of the Patriots’ practice squad in 2016, and now he’ll be returning to New England, this time though, he’ll be apart of the Patriots’ staff.

Aug 31, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide defensive back Vinnie Sunseri (3) runs for a touchdown against the Virginia Tech Hokies during the second quarter of the 2013 Chick-fil-A Kickoff game at the Georgia Dome. Paul Abell-USA TODAY Sports

Sunseri  was a graduate assistant in Tuscaloosa this season. Although we don’t know the full details of his job, we do know it will be in a support staff role.

Sunseri racked up 105 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and 4 INT for 124 yards and 2 TDs in his career for the Crimson Tide. He went on to be drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the 5th round of the 2014 NFL Draft.

Roll Tide Wire will be the first to share the details of his role whenever it’s released.

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Report: Former Patriots practice squad player to join coaching staff

Former Alabama safety Vinnie Sunseri will join New England in a ‘support staff’ position.

The New England Patriots will bring on former Alabama safety Vinnie Sunseri for a ‘support staff role’, according to Matt Zenitz of AL.com.

Sunseri played his college days under Nick Saban with the Crimson Tide and had a couple stints with New England. He signed with the Patriots in July of 2016, spending training camp with them and briefly joining the practice squad later in the season.

The Patriots lost Joe Judge to a head-coaching gig with the New York Giants, so they have some holes to fill. Judge was the special teams coordinator and the wide receivers coach, so it’s possible that Sunseri helps out with one of those roles. He has more experience on defense and special teams, so an assistant special teams coach is a possibility.

There are places for Sunseri to help out on the coaching staff, and his background with both Saban and Bill Belichick will be helpful in the process.

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