UCLA officially names Tino Sunseri as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach
Indiana’s Tino Sunseri watches before an NCAA college football game against Purdue, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, in Bloomington, Ind. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — UCLA officially announced Tino Sunseri’s hiring as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach on Thursday.
Sunseri replaces Eric Bieniemy, who was fired on Dec. 5 after fielding one of the nation’s worst offenses this season.
Sunseri spent one season as Indiana’s co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach after following Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti from James Madison. Cignetti and Sunseri worked together for four seasons, the first three with the Dukes, who made the most successful transition from FCS to FBS in history.
Indiana (11-1) is in the College Football Playoff for the first time and will travel to Notre Dame for a first-round game on Dec. 20.
“Tino Sunseri is a natural leader of young men and rising star in coaching,” UCLA coach DeShaun Foster said in a statement. “He puts his quarterbacks in positions to succeed and it shows when you look at their production. Players will feed off his passion for development and I can’t wait to have him in our building.”
Sunseri’s immediate priority will be to stem any further losses to the transfer portal. Quarterback Justyn Martin — who was on track to compete for the starting job following the graduation of Ethan Garbers — running back T.J. Harden and wide receivers Logan Loya and J. Michael Sturdivant are already in the portal.
“I got to get a quarterback in here. I feel comfortable that I will be able to do that,” Foster said last week during an availability after National Signing Day.
At Indiana, Sunseri worked closely with Kurtis Rourke, a transfer from Mid-American Conference school Ohio. Rourke went on to have one of the best seasons in Hoosiers history as No. 9 Indiana broke single-season school records for victories and conference wins and appears set to make its CFP debut in two weeks.
Sunseri, like Cignetti, also coached previously at Alabama. Sunseri served as a graduate assistant for the Crimson Tide in 2019 and 2020 after previous stints at Florida State and Tennessee. The 35-year-old Sunseri also spent three seasons with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders, winning a Grey Cup title as a rookie in 2013 following his college career at Pittsburgh.
UCLA’s players said early in the season that Bieniemy’s scheme was difficult to grasp and that play calls could be too wordy.
Out of 134 Football Bowl Subdivision teams, UCLA was 117th in total offense (328.8 yards per game), 126th in scoring (18.4 points per game) and had the nation’s fifth-worst rushing attack (86.6 yards per game).
The Bruins — 5-7 in their first season in the Big Ten after qualifying for a bowl the last three years — were the sixth Power Five team since 2000 that didn’t score at least 20 points in their first six games.
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