Latest news with #VinnieSunseri
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
UF football position preview: Safeties and STARs
GAINESVILLE — The 10th in a position-by-position preview of the UF football team leading up to SEC Media Days. TODAY: SAFETIES & STARS What to expect Jordan Castell and Bryce Thornton were true freshmen, outflanked and flailing, when former LSU star Jayden Daniels set an SEC record with 606 total yards as the Tigers gained 701 yards — the most ever gained against the Gators — during a 52-35 loss in 2023. Through the growing pains and low points, the safety duo and leaders of the defense's back end have continued to grow and develop — the Gators hope into a force in 2025 with first-year coach Vinnie Sunseri now at the helm. Advertisement The experience and potential are there. After all, Castell hasn't missed a start since Week 2 of his first season while recording 115 tackles and 12 pass breakups, including a team-leading 9 last season. A former standout cornerback at West Orange High, the 6-foot-2, 217-pound Castell has built his body and improved his communication. An 11-tackle day during UF's upset of LSU last November showed how far he had come. A week later, Thornton had 14 stops and made two interceptions during the final 1:31 as the Gators stunned Ole Miss. The powerfully built 5-foot-10, 212-pound Georgian came on late in the season, recording 26 stops during the final three regular-season games to finish with 41 in 2024. Like the Gators' starting tandem, 4-star prospects Hylton 'Drake' Stubbs and Lagonza Hayward hope to get their share of experience as first-year freshmen. Stubbs staked his claim during the spring game, with 8 tackles, an interception and a quarterback hurry. The 6-foot-1, 197-pound freshman arrived with vast experience, having played 45 combined games at Jacksonville Mandarin and Orange Park. Along the way, he tallied 286 tackles (22.5 for loss), 12 interceptions and 11 pass breakups. The 6-foot-1, 203-pound Hayward, a former Tennessee commit, recorded 152 tackles, with 12 for loss, and 9 interceptions, including two pick-sixes, and 17 passes defended during his career at Toombs County High School in Lyons, Ga. Advertisement While Castell and Thornton solidify the safety position, the Gators face questions at the STAR position, where a defender lines up in the slot to cover receivers, supports the run and can blitz the quarterback. Third-year player Sharif Denson started five games there in 2024, finishing with 37 tackles, 5 for loss (2 sacks), and 2 pass breakups. The 5-foot-11, 191-pound former standout at Jacksonville's Bartram Trail underwent offseason foot surgery in the spring, but a 3-tackle effort in the spring game was encouraging. In 2024, Aaron Gates proved to be a natural for the position in his second season and eventually moved into the starting role past Denson. The former 3-star recruit from Georgia soon evolved into the team's most dynamic playmaker on defense until a season-ending knee injury against Ole Miss. The 6-foot, 189-pound Gates had 4 tackles with one for loss, an interception, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry during a loss to Georgia. He finished last season with 27 stops, 3 pass breakups and 2 fumble recoveries, but is highly unlikely to be ready for fall camp. Advertisement While Gates recovers, redshirt freshman Josiah Davis will have a bigger role. He appeared in four games in 2024, logging one tackle. What they're saying 'Unbelievable a lot of great guys or we have a lot of great guys, guys that are talented, smart, have a lot of experience, and there's also young guys that are coming in they are green but they're also extremely talented and eager to learn. Everybody is extremely locked in in meetings, they go on the practice field, and they excute as fast as they can. It's not always going to be perfect, but that's what the corrections are for. They are doing everything we ask of them as a staff and I think we've gotten better this spring. We're not where we need to be but we've taken steps in the right direction.' – first-year safeties coach Vinnie Sunseri Returnees Jordan Castell Josiah Davis Sharif Denson Aaron Gates Bryce Thornton Advertisement Departures DJ Douglas Gregory Smith III Asa Turner New arrivals Lagonza Hayward (Lyons, Ga.), true freshman Drake Stubbs (Jacksonville), true freshman Projected depth chart Strong safety — Jordan Castell | Lagonza Hayward Free safety — Bryce Thornton | Drake Stubbs STAR — Sharif Denson | Josiah Davis Previous Quarterback Running back Tight end Receiver Offensive line Interior defensive line Edge rusher Linebacker Cornerbacks Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@
USA Today
17-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Florida football adds assistants, sending staff salaries soaring ahead of 2025 season
Florida football adds assistants, sending staff salaries soaring ahead of 2025 season Florida football's coaching staff grew by one member this offseason after a successful campaign that saw the Gators earn their first winning season in four years and first bowl victory since 2019. Additionally, the payroll ballooned to over $8 million in salaries after some well-earned raises and some staff changes, according to a report from Gators Online. The total cost of the program's coaching salaries amounts to $8,275,000 this year, and includes all 13 assistants plus director of strength and conditioning Tyler Miles. Florida was able to expand its sideline presence after the NCAA removed its rule that limited the number of on-field coaches last June. While a pair of defensive assistants — former defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong and defensive coach Will Harris — left Gainesville for greener pastures, the Orange and Blue added three new hires to fill the void left behind. With Armstrong and Harris out of the picture, Napier and Co. added co-defensive coordinators Vinnie Sunseri and Robert Bala, along with defensive backs coach Deron Wilson, to round out the staff. Eight assistant coaches are earning more in 2025 than in 2024 on their original contracts, while Miles' newly signed two-year deal compensates him better than last year as well. Nine of Florida's assistants will see pay raises in 2026, with seven receiving at least a $50,000 bump on their checks. The Gators currently have $7,800,000 allotted for their coaches next year without defensive coordinator Roberts under contract. Florida football's 2025 staff salaries Assistant coach 2025-26 2026-27 Ron Roberts, DC $950,000 N/A Rob Sale, OL $800,000 $850,000 Gerald Chatman, DL $775,000 $850,000 Vinnie Sunseri, Co-DC/S $675,000 $750,000 Russ Callaway, OC/TE $675,000 $725,000 Jabbar Juluke, RB $650,000 $675,000 Robert Bala, Co-DC/LB $575,000 $650,000 Mike Peterson, EDGE $575,000 $600,000 Deron Wilson, DB $525,000 $550,000 Billy Gonzales, WR $525,000 $525,000 Joe Houston, STC $475,000 $475,000 Tyler Miles, Director of S&C $450,000 $450,000 Jonathan Decoster, OL $350,000 $425,000 Ryan O'Hara, QB $275,000 $275,000 Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
USA Today
26-01-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Florida football fills staff void with this fast-rising defensive coordinator
Florida football added former Jacksonville State Gamecocks defensive coordinator Vinnie Sunseri to its coaching staff for the 2025 campaign. The news was first reported by 247Sports' Matt Zenitz on Saturday morning. Sunseri will fill the void left behind when former defensive co-coordinator Austin Armstrong departed to take the solo defensive coordinator position with the Houston Cougars. He brings a strong pedigree to the mix in Gainesville and will serve as both co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach. The 33-year-old also represents the second generation of the Sunseri family to coach for the University of Florida as the son of former Florida defensive line coach Sal Sunseri. The elder was a defensive line coach for a season in 2018 under former head coach Dan Mullen. Sunseri as a player The native of Northridge, Alabama, played linebacker for the Crimson Tide from 2011-13, amassing 105 tackles — seven for loss and 1.5 sacks — along with four interceptions and five defended passes. That helped his teams earn a pair of BCS National Championships in two of the three years he spent in Tuscaloosa. He turned his collegiate performance into a fifth-round selection in the 2014 NFL draft by the New Orleans Saints. He spent a pair of seasons in NOLA before wrapping up his professional career with the San Francisco 49ers, recording 11 total tackles in 15 NFL games played over three years. Sunseri as a college coach Florida's new co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach got his start as a graduate assistant with Alabama in 2019, coaching alongside his brother Tino, who also was a graduate assistant, and his father who was the linebackers coach. Sunseri then spent the 2020 season back in the pros with the New England Patriots in a support staff role as a defensive assistant before shifting to the running backs corps for the remainder of his tenure. He then moved on to take the role of the Washington Huskies safeties coach during the 2024 offseason before taking Jacksonville State's defensive coordinator offer. While in Seattle, Sunseri spent time with Florida alumnus and former Gators graduate assistant Jedd Frisch. Florida's defensive coaching staff Sunseri joins current co-defensive coordinator, executive head coach of the defense and inside linebackers coach Ron Roberts as the leaders on the defensive side of scrimmage. Roberts was in charge of play-calling last season but that role is presumably not yet set for 2025. Mike Peterson remains as the edge rushers coach while Gerald Chatman heads the defensive line and Will Harris coaches the team's secondary room. Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
