Sal Sunseri Is Tennessee's Top Defensive Coordinator Target, According To Reports

Now that Alabama Crimson Tide outside linebackers coach Sal Sunseri is finally done with his 2011 work, it's time to ramp up reports of the Tennessee Volunteers seeking his services. The Vols lost defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox to the Washington Huskies, and rumors of Randy Shannon and Ron Zook coming aboard never amounted to much.

Tennessee blog Rocky Top Talk thinks Sunseri might be the one:

I'd say this is probably going to happen. We are too close to National Signing Day and too far from the resignation of Justin Wilcox and Peter Sirmon to make waiting any longer a viable option. Tennessee is expecting 8-10 official visitors (plus some unofficials) this weekend, and you'd think that having a coordinator hired would be a check mark on the right side of the ledger for those guys.

Would he be willing to leave for the promotion? Sunseri's son Vinnie Sunseri, a rising sophomore, plays defensive back for the Tide, but son Tino Sunseri plays quarterback for the Pittsburgh Panthers, and you don't hear anybody saying he'll try to merge Alabama and Pitt into a single school so he can rally his many sons together onto one roster. He'd also have to convince Tino to play defense. Tino has much experience at dealing with sacks, so he might be good at linebacker. Who knows. I say all this to say he probably would be willing to accept a promotion at another school. Thanks for listening.

Before joining Bama in 2009, Sunseri coached with the Carolina Panthers for seven years, preceded by stints with the Michigan St. Spartans and LSU Tigers. He has three years of defensive coordinator experience, two at Alabama A&M and one at Illinois State. He also spent one year and one game as a head coach in the early '90s.

For more on the parties involved, visit Tennessee blog Rocky Top Talk and Alabama blog Roll Bama Roll.