Tino Sunseri has worked closely with fellow Pitt alum Mike Shanahan for the last few seasons, but he’s getting a chance to run his own offense next season.
According to Zach Osterman of the IndyStar, Sunseri is leaving Indiana at the end of the season (following a potential Playoff push) to take the open offensive coordinator position at UCLA.
Sunseri currently serves as the quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator (alongside Shanahan) at Indiana.
He’s worked with Shanahan since their time at JMU, all under head coach Curt Cignetti. He was the quarterbacks coach at JMU, and upon arriving at Indiana, received a promotion to co-OC.
Sunseri has been an invaluable resource for the Hoosiers, helping quarterback Kurtis Rourke to a standout season. Rourke, who transferred in from Ohio, has completed 70% of his passes for 2,827 yards with 27 touchdowns and four interceptions this season.
Sunseri, who graduated from Pittsburgh Central Catholic, was a three-year starter at Pitt from 2010-12. He completed 736-of-1,141 pass attempts (64.5%) for 8,590 yards with 49 touchdowns and 23 interceptions — adding seven touchdowns on the ground.
He left Pittsburgh ranked second in total offense and third in passing yards in program history.
He received his coaching start at Florida State in 2016, after a few seasons in the CFL with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and spent time at Tennessee (2018) and Alabama (2019-20) before landing the quarterbacks coach job at JMU in 2021.
UCLA wrapped up a 5-7 (3-6 Big Ten) season in which the offense bottomed out under offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, averaging just 18.4 points per game (126th in all of FBS football).
Tino Sunseri will have his hands full revamping the UCLA offense, but he’s shown the ability to work with quarterbacks and help guide high-powered offenses. It will be his first opportunity to lead an offense on his own, and while it comes with a sputtering UCLA offense, he has an opportunity to thrive in the Big Ten.
