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Former Saints draft pick, Alabama football star takes high-profile college coaching job

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Former Saints draft pick, Alabama football star takes high-profile college coaching job


Here’s some good news for a former New Orleans Saints draft pick: Vinnie Sunseri has taken a high-profile college coaching job as the Washington Huskies safeties coach, where he’ll be tasked with developing the next generation of defensive backs at a West Coast powerhouse with national championship ambitions.

Things have come full circle. Sunseri was a standout at Alabama during his own college playing career, and Alabama’s decision to hire Washington’s former head coach Kalen DeBoer led to a lot of turnover for the Huskies coaching staff.

Sunseri, 32, was picked by the Saints in the fifth round of the 2014 NFL draft. But he struggled to get on the field after dealing with a series of injuries. He finished his NFL playing career with the New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers.

After hanging up his cleats, Sunseri began a coaching career at Alabama as a graduate assistant; he returned to the Patriots in 2020 to get more experience, where he first worked with the defense before moving to the offensive side of the ball for three years coaching running backs. Now he’s going back to his roots with much more responsibility under new Washington head coach Jedd Fisch.

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The job comes with high expectations. Washington is fresh off a national title bid, and the school has sent many defensive backs to the NFL draft in recent years; Trent McDuffie and Kyler Gordon were both top-50 picks in 2022, while Elijah Molden was selected at No. 100 overall (followed by Keith Taylor in the fifth round) in 2021. Byron Murphy and Taylor Rapp were each second-round picks in 2019 with Jordan Miller also drafted in the fifth round. Sunseri will be charged with recruiting and developing players to follow in their footsteps. Good luck to him.



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Alabama

Paul Finebaum torches Kalen DeBoer, Alabama for loss to Oklahoma: ‘Simply inexcusable’

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Paul Finebaum torches Kalen DeBoer, Alabama for loss to Oklahoma: ‘Simply inexcusable’


https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/coaches/kalen-deboer/Paul Finebaum didn’t pull any punches when reacting to Alabama’s 24-3 loss to Oklahoma on Sunday morning.

Finebaum made his usual appearance on the Matt Barrie Show on Sunday morning and he was very clear about what he thought of the Tide’s performance in Norman.

“Let me cut to the chase,” Finebaum said. “It was simply inexcusable. And you can blame anyone you want, but you would be smart to start at the very top. Because that team did not look prepared. They didn’t look focused. They didn’t look like they had a clue what they were getting in to and I don’t know how that could be the case, because everyone who watched football knew that Brent Venables had an elite defense.”

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For Alabama, this is the third loss of the year for Kalen DeBoer in his first year in Tuscaloosa. That puts Alabama’s College Football Playoff hopes in serious jeopardy entering the final week of the regular season.

“I don’t understand how Alabama can be considered a legitimate Playoff team,” Finebaum said. “And I realize that there are probably schools in there that aren’t legitimate either. But they’ve lost to Vanderbilt, a 5-loss team. And now Oklahoma, a 5-loss team. If you were looking at a chart of the SEC, they’re probably 12th and 13th out of the 16 teams in the league.”

Finebaum also indicated that the fan base’s trust in DeBoer has been further eroded by this performance.

“In the middle of the night, I’m getting texts from old-line Alabama fans going, ‘what have we gotten ourselves into?’” Finebaum said. “It’s a worse Alabama team than we saw against Vanderbilt. I mean, this team was completely clueless.”

Alabama may still have a path to the College Football Playoff at 9-3 depending on how the rest of the season plays out. The Crimson Tide will finish out the regular season next weekend against Auburn.

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Oklahoma DC Zac Alley Alabama Postgame

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Oklahoma DC Zac Alley Alabama Postgame


CARSON FIELD

Carson Field has worked full-time in the sports media industry since 2020 in Colorado, Texas and Wyoming as well as nationally, and he has earned degrees from Arizona State University and Texas A&M University. When he isn’t covering the Sooners, he’s likely golfing, fishing or doing something else outdoors.
Twitter: https://x.com/carsondfield



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Alabama Football at Oklahoma Injury Updates

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Alabama Football at Oklahoma Injury Updates


NORMAN, Okla.–– The Alabama football team stayed relatively healthy in last week’s game against Mercer after suffering a few season-ending injuries in the weeks before with guys like Cole Adams and Que Robinson.

Adams, Robinson and defensive back on Keon Sabb are the only three Crimson Tide players who have showed up on the official SEC availability report this week as Alabama prepares to face Oklahoma on Saturday night. However, the Sooners have a long list of players on the report

Follow along for injury updates throughout Saturday’s game between the Crimson Tide and Sooners.

In-game injury updates

First Quarter

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  • 11:30- Overton is back on the field for Alabama’s second defensive series.
  • 14:30- Alabama defensive tackle LT Overton goes down on the first drive of the game. He is brielfy looked at by medical staff, but is able to walk off the field on his own. However, he headed straight for the injury tent.

Pregame

Alabama Final Availability Report

  • Keon Sabb, DB – Out
  • Cole Adams, WR – Out
  • Que Robinson, LB – Out

Oklahoma Final Availability Report

  • Jayden Gibson, WR – Out
  • Jalil Farooq, WR- Out
  • Nic Anderson, WR – Out
  • Andrel Anthony, WR – Out
  • Gentry Williams, DB – Out
  • Kendel Dolby, DB – Out
  • Geirean Hatchett, OL – Out
  • Jacob Sexton, OL – Out
  • Jake Taylor, OL – Out
  • Deion Burks, WR – Out
  • Jovantae Barnes, RB – Game-time decision
  • Joshua Bates, OL – Out

Read more: What Happened to the Players who Transferred From Alabama Last Year?

Why One Alabama Assistant Has Been Losing Sleep this Week

Where Alabama Football Ranks in the College Football Playoff Poll



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