Indiana football made it official on Wednesday evening with the return of Tino Sunseri as the program’s quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator.
Sunseri held that title at Indiana in 2024 before leaving to become the offensive coordinator at UCLA. The upcoming 2026 season will be Sunseri’s fifth with head coach Curt Cignetti.
He replaces Chandler Whitmer, who left after one season to coach the quarterbacks for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Here’s the full release from IU on the return of Sunseri:
———————————————————–
Tino Sunseri starts his second stint as the program’s co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks and has been a part of Indiana head football coach Curt Cignetti for the fifth season in his coaching career with three at James Madison and two at Indiana.
In just five seasons as a collegiate coach, Sunseri has quickly established a reputation for developing quarterbacks and as a high-level recruiter.
His first season at Indiana featured the emergence of quarterback Kurtis Rourke, who set the then-program record for single-season touchdown passes (29) and finished top-10 in the Heisman Trophy voting. Following his first season at IU, he took the offensive coordinator role with UCLA for the 2025 season before a staffing change early in the season.
In three seasons tutoring the quarterbacks in Harrisonburg, Sunseri’s pupils averaged 3,400 yards passing, 32 touchdown passes and 256 completions per season. With 21 rushing scores added, the trio accounted for 119 touchdowns in three years (19.8 points per game).
His three quarterbacks at James Madison each earned conference player of the year honors and Cole Johnson was named the 2021 College Football Performance Awards FCS National Performer of the Year.
The 2023 season saw Jordan McCloud earn Sun Belt Player of the Year after ranking No. 5 in passing touchdowns (32), No. 6 in points responsible for (242), No. 9 in passing efficiency (167.3), and No. 10 in total offense per game (309.2) in the FBS.
In 2022, Todd Centeio was voted Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player and Newcomer of the Year after throwing for 2,697 yards and 25 touchdowns with just five interceptions.
Johnson set the JMU single-season records for passing yards (3,779), passing touchdowns (41), and completions (287) in 2021 to finish No. 4 in the voting for the FCS Walter Payton Award.
Sunseri came to Harrisonburg after a two-and-a-half year stint on Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama, where he served as a graduate assistant, working primarily with the quarterbacks.
While in Tuscaloosa, the Crimson Tide went 24-2 between the 2019 and 2020 seasons, which included the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship and a 13-0 record. Sunseri handled daily breakdown of film, self-scout breakdown, writing scripts for practice, and opponent scouting.
He worked closely with a pair of Heisman Trophy finalists and NFL first-round draft picks in Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones. In 2020, Jones set the national completion percentage record (77.4%) on the way to the 2020 national title.
Prior to Alabama, Sunseri spent one season at Tennessee (2018) and two seasons on Jimbo Fisher’s staff at Florida State (2016-17).
Sunseri made 39 consecutive starts at Pittsburgh (2008-12) where he was coached by Cignetti’s brother, Frank Jr., for two seasons.
A 2010 Big East Conference champion, he completed his career ranked No. 2 in Pitt history in total offense (8,591) and No. 3 in passing yards (8,590). As a senior, he completed 65% of his passes, throwing for 3,288 yards and 21 touchdowns with only three interceptions. His passing total was No. 2 in single-season history at Pitt.
Professionally, he played three seasons in the Canadian Football League for the Saskatchewan Roughriders (2013-15). He was a 2013 Grey Cup champion and helped the Roughriders to the 2014 playoffs as the team’s starter.
Sunseri graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a bachelor’s in communications with a minor in history. He married the former Ashlyn James in July 2023.
He is the son of Sal Sunseri, a coaching veteran of nearly four decades between the collegiate and NFL ranks. His father owns four national titles as an assistant coach and was a Broyles Award finalist in 2011. Sal previously served on Saban’s staff at Alabama (2019-22) before becoming defensive tackles coach at Colorado ahead of the 2023 season.
COACHING EXPERIENCE
Florida State University
2016-17: Quality Control Assistant
University of Tennessee
2018: Quality Control Assistant
University of Alabama
2019-20: Graduate Assistant – Offense
James Madison University
2021-23: Quarterbacks
Indiana University
2024: Co-Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
University of California, Los Angeles
2025: Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
PLAYING EXPERIENCE
University of Pittsburgh
2008-12: Quarterback
