Report: Colorado to Hire Alabama Assistant Sal Sunseri As DT Coach

Deion Sanders is making a key hire on his staff from Alabama.

Deion Sanders is adding another key assistant to his staff at Colorado, as he has reportedly hired Alabama assistant Sal Sunseri to coach the Buffaloes’ defensive tackles, according to a report from BuffZone.

Sunseri will replace Patrick Hill, who was initially hired by Sanders to help coach the defensive line. Hill left his post with Colorado earlier in the week after less than two months on the job to reportedly take a job on the Vikings’ staff in the NFL.

Sunseri has familiarity with Colorado defensive coordinator Charles Kelly, who he worked with under Nick Saban. Sunseri and Kelly also were on the same defensive staff under Jimbo Fisher at Florida State in 2013 and ’14.

The 63-year-old Sunseri is a widely respected assistant across college football, having coached under some of the best coaches in the game in Saban and Fisher. He also served as the defensive coordinator at Tennessee in 2012, in addition to working as an assistant at Michigan State, LSU, Pittsburgh and Louisville, among other stops.

Sunseri has been on four different staffs that have won national championships, including one at Florida State in 2013 and three different title teams at Alabama across multiple different coaching stints (’09, ’11 and ’20). 

In addition to his collegiate experience, Sunseri also coached in the NFL for a decade. He coached the defensive line for the Panthers from 2002 to ’08 and linebackers for the Raiders from ’15 to ’17.

Sunseri’s hire at Colorado continues the trend of hiring assistants with a wealth of experience on the college circuit, which is something that Sanders has prioritized in his short but successful collegiate head coaching career.