So former Pitt player, former Pitt coach and father of a Pitt player getting lots of irrational hope pinned on him has re-upped with Nick Saban.
After several days of speculaÂtion, Saban finally confirmed the hiring of Carolina Panthers defensive line coach Sal Sunseri as well. Willis and Sunseri will replace inside linebackers coach Kevin Steele and outside linebackers coach Lance Thompson, but Saban did not specify which assistant will coach which position.
“I’m extremely happy to add a coach the caliber of Sal SunseÂri to our staff,” Saban said. “From his playing days at Pitt, to coaching in college football and the NFL, Sal has been sucÂcessful at every level of the game.”
This is Sunseri’s second stint with Saban. He coached lineÂbackers at LSU in 2000 under SaÂban. In making the announceÂment in 2000, Saban said Sunseri was an excellent reÂcruiter.
“When you talk about college football tradition and national prestige, it doesn’t get any better than the University of AlabaÂma,” Sunseri said. “This is a championship program with a championship coach in Nick SaÂban and I feel fortunate to be a part of that.”
Not sure if there was any actual speculation, but Sunseri, the elder swears that Tino isn’t going to transfer to join him.
Before that led to any speculation of whether Tino Sunseri would transfer to Alabama, I contacted the Sunseri family. Here was the response: “Tino is a Pitt Panther and will stay one.”
Glad that was cleared up.
Drew Rosenhaus will rep LeSean McCoy. Actually might be the right fit for McCoy. He needs a hard-nosed agent. McCoy has from all reports tended to be deferential to coaches and authority. Not good for negotiating a contract. Hey, at least it isn’t Scott Boras.
Another verbal earlier in the week. This time a defensive end from New Jersey, Bernardo Nunez. This one was expected for at least a week. He’s a solid 3-star recruit. Plus, he has upside (Insider subs).
He is a solid tackler who wraps up, but will drop his head some at times. He has the initial burst to get a good up-field charge in passing situations. He will use his hands to try and push a blocker by when he gets to quarterback depth. Does a good job of getting his hands up when he can not get to the quarterback. Displays the tools to be a disruptive pass rusher, but needs to keep working on developing an arsenal of pass rush moves. Nunez is a promising prospect. Displays good natural tools and flashes some good ability.
Broken record time, but I still wish Pitt would recruit a real center. So far efforts to convert young O-linemen have not yielded much more than frustration and spring and summer fumbled snaps.
