Finally, it's official: Vinnie Sunseri named UF's Co-DC

Vinnie Sunseri spent last year coaching Washington's safeties (Photo from Sunseri Instagram)

A few thoughts to jump start your Friday morning:

Vinnie Sunseri has been named the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach for the Florida Gators. That’s probably the worst kept secret on the planet, but the Gators made it official Thursday.

Sunseri, whose dad Sal was the defensive line coach for Dan Mullen in 2018, played collegiately at Alabama where he was a vital part of two national championship secondaries. Sunseri was drafted in the fifth round by the New Orleans Saints in the 2014 NFL Draft.

He worked as a grad assistant for Nick Saban at Alabama in 2019, then was on Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots’ staff from 2020-23. He was the safeties coach at the University of Washington last season, working for Belichick’s son Steve who was the defensive coordinator.

"Vinnie Sunseri has a great pedigree coming from a football family and has also played and coached for exceptional coaches throughout his career," Florida head coach Billy Napier said. "He is a two-time national champion with NFL and collegiate experience. Vinnie will help our organization improve as we continue to build. I'm excited to welcome he and his wife, Kaci, to Gainesville."

Napier was on the Alabama staff (analyst 2011, wide receivers coach 2013) when Sunseri played for the Crimson Tide. Sal Sunseri was the associate head coach at Alabama when Napier was an analyst.

Vinnie Sunseri fills the spot on the coaching staff vacated by Austin Armstrong, who left to become the defensive coordinator at Houston. Sunseri will team up with Ron Roberts to call the defense for the Gators with Roberts likely to remain in the booth while Sunseri will be on the sidelines. Florida’s defense made a dramatic turnaround in the 2024 season when Armstrong went to the sidelines and Roberts took over in the booth.

In the first four games (2-2 record), plus the Georgia and Texas losses, both blowouts due to the injury to DJ Lagway that brought the offense to a standstill, the Gators gave up 192 points (32 points per game) and 2709 yards (450.33 per game). In those games, the Gators forced seven turnovers and got to quarterbacks for 11 sacks. In the other seven games (6-1 record) the Gators gave up 2,191 yards (313 per game) and 108 points (15.4 per game). The Gators had 28 sacks in the those games and forced 18 turnovers.

It's a veteran defense the Gators will return next year with 17 players off last year’s two-deep returning. Will Harris, who coached the entire secondary last season, will be in charge of the corners with Sunseri taking over the safeties.  

CALL THIS SEPARATION SATURDAY IN SEC HOOPS

When the 5th-ranked Gators (18-2, 5-2 SEC) travel to Knoxville to face No. 8 Tennessee (17-4, 4-4 SEC) Saturday (12 noon, it’s a chance for Florida to get three games of separation from the Vols, who have lost two in a row. This is a very big deal as the SEC reaches the midway point. No. 1 Auburn is unbeaten in league play and No. 4 Alabama has one loss, so a win in Knoxville will keep the Gators within striking distance of the top and put Tennessee in the precarious position of needing seven or eight wins to ensure top four seeding.

Florida and Tennessee are both on the No. 2 line in the bracketology for both Joe Lunardi (ESPN) and Jerry Palm (CBS). Tennessee’s latest loss to Kentucky will probably drop the Vols a bit when new brackets come out (likely today). A loss to Florida will probably take the Vols out of a top four. It is unlikely that a Florida win will move the Gators to the No. 1 line, but it will definitely solidify their position on the No. 2 line, particularly since the Gators beat the Vols by 30 (73-43) in Gainesville back on January 7 when Tennessee was ranked No. 1 in the nation.

Handlogten unlikely to play this season: Asked about the status of 7-1 Micah Handlogten, who has been debating whether to play this season or continue as a medical redshirt, Florida coach Todd Golden said Thursday, “I think he will probably sit out the rest of the year."

That could change, of course. Handlogten was expected to play last Saturday against Georgia but he changed his mind prior to the game. Handlogten, who suffered a severe leg fracture against Auburn in last season’s SEC Tournament championship game, has been practicing the last two or three weeks with the team.

Saturday’s games

No. 5 FLORIDA (18-2, 5-2 SEC) at No. 8 Tennessee (17-4, 4-4 SEC)

No. 1 Auburn (19-1, 7-0 SEC) at No. 23 Ole Miss (16-5, 5-3 SEC)

Georgia (15-6, 3-5 SEC) at No. 4 Alabama (18-3, 7-1 SEC)

Arkansas (12-8, 1-6 SEC) at No. 12 Kentucky (15-5, 4-3 SEC)

No. 13 Texas A&M (16-5, 5-3 SEC) at South Carolina (10-11, 0-8 SEC)

No. 20 Missouri (16-4, 5-2 SEC) at No. 14 Mississippi State (16-5, 4-4 SEC)

No. 24 Vanderbilt (16-4, 4-3 SEC) at Oklahoma (15-5, 2-5 SEC)

Texas (14-7, 3-5 SEC) at LSU (12-8, 1-6 SEC)

FLORIDA SOFTBALL: SEC COACHES PICK TEXAS TO WIN LEAGUE TITLE

The Gators might be ranked No. 1 nationally by both D1Softball and Softball America, but the Southeastern Conference coaches don’t see it that way. SEC coaches ranked Texas No. 1 with the Gators No. 2. Florida finished third last year at the Women’s College World Series while Texas finished runner-up to Oklahoma, which became the first NCAA champ to 4-peat.  

The preseason poll of the coaches went like this: 1. Texas; 2. FLORIDA; 3. Oklahoma; 4. Tennessee; 5. Texas A&M; 6. LSU; 7. Arkansas; 8. Georgia; 9. Missouri; 10. Alabama; 11. Kentucky; 12. Mississippi State; 13. Auburn; 14. Ole Miss; 15. South Carolina.

The coaches selected five Gators to the preseason All-SEC team. Named first team were catcher Jocelyn Erickson, last year’s SEC and NFCA national Player of the Year, center fielder Kendra Falby, left fielder Korbe Otis, and DH Reagan Walsh. Pitcher Keagan Rothrock was selected to the second team.

Erickson was a unanimous first team All-America selection and a Rawlings Gold Glove winner. Otis made first team All-America and first team All-SEC. Walsh made first team All-SEC and third team All-America. Falby was first team All-SEC and winner of a Rawlings Gold Glove. Rothrock was third team All-America, second team All-SEC, and was the SEC Freshman of the Year.

UF WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: GATORS FALL TO VANDERBILT

The Gators (11-11, 2-6 SEC) fell behind by 20 in the first half but couldn’t make up the difference despite scoring 60 in the second half, falling 96-86 to Vanderbilt (18-4, 5-3 SEC) at the O-Dome.

Ra’Shaya Kyle (23), Liv McGill (20), Jeriah Warren (13) and Laila Reynolds (12) all scored in double figures but they couldn’t offset the NCAA record 53-point performance by Vandy’s Mikayla Blakes, who scored 53 and grabbed 14 rebounds.

The Gators travel to Arkansas Monday night.

UF LACROSSE: GATORS PICKED NO. 1 IN PRESEASON BIG 12

One year after winning the American Athletic Conference for the fourth straight year, the Gators move to the Big Eight where the coaches selected the Gators to win the championship. This is the fourth conference for the Gators since they began the program in 2010. Amanda O’Leary, the only coach in Florida lacrosse history, has guided the Gators to 12 consecutive conference championships. The Gators made the Final Four last year. Florida has made the Final Four twice and the quarter-final round of the NCAA Tournament six  times.

Coaches selected five Gators preseason All-Big 12: Kaitlyn Davies, Theresa Bragg, Elyse Finnelle, Ashley Dyer and Ava Tighe.

The Gators open the season today at No. 11 Johns Hopkins.

Coaches Preseason Big 12 poll: 1. FLORIDA; 2. Colorado; 3. Arizona State; 4. Cincinnati; 5. UC-Davis; 6. San Diego State

The Gators were also selected No. 5 in the ILWomen top 25 poll: 1. Boston College; 2. Northwestern; 3. Michigan; 4. North Carolina; 5. FLORIDA; 6. Syracuse; 7. Maryland; 8. Yale; 9. Virginia; 10. Loyola; 11. Johns Hopkins; 12. Pennsylvania; 13. Notre Dame; 14. Stony Brook; 15. Denver; 16. James Madison; 17. Princeton; 18. Navy; 19. Penn State; 20. Stanford; 21. Clemson; 22. Southern California; 23. Colorado; 24. Drexel; 25. Duke

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: If Congress and the NCAA have their way, college sports as we know them will change dramatically on April 1 when the anti-trust settlement kicks in. Depending on your opinion of both Congress and the NCAA it’s either nothing could be finer or else trouble right here in River City.

If all goes according to plan, the power conferences will get most of the $2.8 billion settlement. Athletes are supposed to get access to lots of money due to revenue sharing – $20 million a year would go to the University of Florida and each of the other 15 SEC schools – and there will be new scholarship limitations. For example, baseball which has been shackled by this silly 11.9 scholarship limits, will have more than 30 scholarships available. Football limitations are supposed to be 105 instead of the current 85.

Sounds so good, doesn’t it? Well, maybe not.

Already there are lawsuits popping up everywhere including one by the United States Department of Justice. The DOJ is concerned because there is no accommodation for athletes who wish to unionize and they cannot bargain for a revenue sharing cap.

The Southeastern Conference is so bought in to the settlement that the league is holding fast to the 85-scholarship limit for football at least for this year. A week ago Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin told me the SEC is in no hurry to expand the scholarship limits. Stricklin, by the way, wouldn’t be opposed to a 5-year limit on eligibility. Five years. Athletes can play all five years, but if they redshirt or they are injured, that year counts against the five.

Other conferences may go gung-ho to expand scholarship limits but what happens if this settlement falls through and schools now have to deal with 20 more football scholarship athletes? This is one of those situations where it’s a good thing to have Greg Sankey running the show for the SEC. Common sense is one of his strong points and common sense tells us the SEC is smart to let the dust settle from all these lawsuits to see where we are.

I’m of the opinion that the combination of Congress and the NCAA is a recipe for the sports equivalent of Hurricane Helene. The hope here is that when – you notice I didn’t say if – the settlement is thrown out that Sankey will lead the revolution that will lead to the extinction of the NCAA. We need a new organization. We need some common sense injected into collegiate athletics.

Common sense and both the NCAA and Congress are ships passing in the night … thousands of miles apart.