Lone coach to leave Indiana football has a top quarterback leading UCLA offense, future IU opponent

Indianapolis Star

29-07-2025

BLOOMINGTON — Former Indiana football quarterbacks coach Tino Sunseri is among the reasons there's a buzz building at UCLA.
The 36 year old was hired by UCLA coach Deshaun Foster to rebuild an offense that ranked 16th out of 18 Big Ten teams last season in scoring offense (18.4 points per game), 14th in total offense (328.8 yards per game) and 18th in rushing offense (86.6 yards).
While Sunseri is a first-time coordinator, he didn't have any issues winning over the Bruins' locker room.
"We saw what happened at Indiana and he was the co-offensive coordinator there,' UCLA offensive lineman Garrett DiGiorgio said at Big Ten media days. 'Seeing those stats, I wasn't too worried about him coming over. They speak for themselves, but he's also come in with a strong will."
The former Pitt quarterback jumped into coaching after a stint in the CFL. He was a fast riser in the profession thanks to a gig as a graduate assistant for Nick Saban at Alabama. Indiana coach Curt Cignetti gave Sunseri his first assistant coach job in 2021 as James Madison's quarterbacks coach.
Foster's connection with Sunseri predates all of that.
'His dad (Sal) was my defensive line coach in Carolina, I've known Tino since he was 11 or 12,' Foster said. 'Seeing how he's evolved as a coach resonated, this is somebody I want to get on staff."
Foster got to see the end result of that evolution when IU made the trip out to the Rose Bowl for a Week 3 game against the Bruins last season. The Hoosiers won 42-13 while putting up 430 total yards of offense.
Former Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke threw for 307 yards (25 of 33) with four touchdowns. Rourke went on to put up 3,000-plus yards while setting IU's single-season record for passing touchdowns (29).
Foster cited Sunseri's successful track record working with transfer quarterbacks from Todd Centeio (2022) to Jordan McCloud (2023) to Rourke as a key reason he targeted him to run UCLA's offense.
'That's what we are really excited about, that he's taking guys in one year and completely flipped it upside down,' Foster said. "We're looking forward to that."
Sunseri will put those skills to the test this year working with Nico Iamaleava, a Tennessee transfer who will likely be one-and-done at the school given his NFL aspirations. The former Vols quarterback put up 2,974 total yards of offense last season (2,616 passing) with 22 total touchdowns while leading the team to the College Football Playoff.
The Bruins completed spring practice under the assumption that Joey Aguilar was the team's presumed starter, but that plan went out the window the minute Iamaleava became available.
'Man, I wanted to go play for him the first day I met him,' Iamaleava said. 'I felt that comfortable, he just has that certain presence to him."
Indiana fans will get an up-close look at the Sunseri-Iamaleava pairing Oct. 25 when UCLA visits Bloomington for the first time.
"Coach Tino brings everything to the table,' Iamaleava said on Big Ten Network. 'I think he truly has an everything offense in his playbook and I'm excited to be a part of it.'