Alabama Football: Sal and sons could settle in Tuscaloosa

Alabama football has already benefitted greatly from the Sunseri family. Don’t be surprised if those benefits grow in the future.

Alabama football coach Sal Sunseri knows all too well it is not easy to be a college football coach. It is especially difficult for those being fortunate enough to coach at a top tier Power Five program. Nowhere is it more difficult than in Tuscaloosa, AL.

The Crimson Tide assistants sacrifice a lot. So do their families. At this point in the conversation, critics would like to jump in and blame Nick Saban for the intense challenges on the Alabama football staff. Arguably there is no other program which operates under the intense pressure of Alabama football. But there are plenty of head coaches trying to bring that same pressure of expectations and performance to their programs. And most of them are driving their staffs as hard as Nick Saban.

Sal Sunseri is a journeyman in the classic sense of the worse. He has toiled long and hard to learn and practice his craft. There has been a heavy price. In 35 seasons as a football coach, Sal has worked at 11 schools and two NFL teams. Take away his eight, early years at Pitt and his seven seasons with the Carolina Panthers and Sal has changed employers on an average of every 1.8 seasons.

Career enhancing or not, that is a lot of uprooting a family. Sal and his wife, Roxann know the frequent packing cardboard boxes was the easy part. The hard part was uprooting children from their friends. They will also say it made the family bonds even stronger.

After Vinnie Sunseri committed to play Alabama football he explained how important it was to play where his dad coached.

"“My family was here. I was never able to be with my dad because he was always out recruiting and coaching other players."

The al.com story linked above explained the Vinnie and Sal story well.

"He (Vinnie) wanted to play for the defense his dad helped lead as the Crimson Tide’s outside linebackers coach, a job he took in 2009. He wanted a high-five or a chest-bump from Sal as soon as he stepped off the field, not months later by the Christmas tree."

It did not work out the way Vinnie envisioned. Sal was summoned to Knoxville to become the Tennessee Defensive Coordinator. He ended up coaching against Vinnie.

Fast forward to 2019 and the Sunseri clan of football playing and coaching men are all in Tuscaloosa. Sal is the outside linebackers coach. Sons, Tino and Vinnie are on the football support staff. Tino’s football career was at his father’s alma mater, Pitt. Tino was a three-year starter at quarterback. Alabama football fans fondly remember Vinnie as a hard-hitting, ball-hunter.

Nick Saban develops coaches almost as well as he develops players. But his off-field guys are almost always expected to pay dues on the field elsewhere before having a chance to move up in Tuscaloosa. Could either Tino or Vinnie be an exception?

The answer lies in the future. If Sal believes anchoring his career in Tuscaloosa aids his son’s future opportunities … there may be a Sunseri (or more) in Tuscaloosa for a long time to come.