Hoosiers Now

Kurtis Rourke, Curt Cignetti Show Appreciation For Departing Assistant Tino Sunseri

Tino Sunseri is headed to UCLA to be the Bruins offensive coordinator but will be with Indiana through its College Football Playoff run.

Todd Golden

Indiana quarterbacks Tanner Rourke (9) and Tayven Jackson (2) are given instructions by Indiana quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri on July 31, 2024.
Indiana quarterbacks Tanner Rourke (9) and Tayven Jackson (2) are given instructions by Indiana quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri on July 31, 2024. / Indiana athletics
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The transfer portal for college football players opened on Monday. While the transfer portal is a relatively new phenomenon, coaches have always been able to move around at-will. December has always been coaching silly season.

Given Indiana’s unprecedented 11-1 success in 2024, it stood to reason that nearly every coach on Indiana’s staff, including head coach Curt Cignetti, would be in the crosshairs of college programs eager to repeat the Hoosiers’ success.

Indiana anticipated this too. Cignetti was signed to an 8-year contract extension to stay with the Hoosiers. Part of his agreement was an $11 million increase in the assistant coach compensation pool. Cignetti said on Monday that nine of Indiana’s current assistants will be retained on multi-year deals.

“When you win like we do, guys have opportunities. That took about 10-to-14 days (to complete the new contracts),” Cignetti said on Monday. “Because all these guys have agents anymore, but I was really happy that we were able to get done what we got done.”

All but one assistant coach will return to the Indiana fold. Tino Sunseri, the quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator, is the lone exception.

Last Thursday, it was announced that Sunseri will be the offensive coordinator at UCLA. Sunseri replaces Eric Bieniemy, who parted mutually. Sunseri will remain with the Hoosiers until their College Football Playoff participation ends.

In Sunseri’s one season in Bloomington, it’s hard to argue with the results. The Hoosiers are the top-ranked team in the nation in passing efficiency with a rating of 179.09. Indiana ranks 29th nationally in passing offense at 265.2 yards per game.

Quarterback Kurtis Rourke leads the nation in passing efficiency with a 181.4 rating. He also leads the Big Ten in yards gained per pass at 14.

Rourke has thrown 27 touchdown passes and just four interceptions. He passed for 2,827 yards in 11 games.

Naturally, Rourke is very appreciative of what Sunseri has meant to his own success.

“Coach Tino has been awesome. I've developed so much as a quarterback since working with him in January,” said Rourke during a Monday press conference.

“It's been awesome to see my personal growth as well as the rest of the quarterbacks in the room. I know all of us can say that we've learned and become a better quarterback this year, and a lot of that attributes to Coach Tino,” Rourke continued.

Sunseri and Cignetti have worked together since 2021, when Sunseri became the quarterbacks coach at James Madison after stints at Florida State, Tennessee and Alabama.

Sunseri and the Cignetti family have a long history together. As a quarterback at Pittsburgh from 2008-12, he was coached by Curt’s brother, Frank Jr., for two seasons.

“Happy for Tino, because he's done a great job as the quarterback coach. I've known Tino a long time and known his family for a long time, and I'll miss him being around,” Cignetti said.

Not that Cignetti is going to wallow in sentimentality about it. The coaching game is nomadic. Cignetti knows that as well as anyone, having worked at 10 different schools during his own career.

“The philosophy has always been, when you lose a coach, hire a better one. We had a lot of players here at quarterback before we hired Tino. While he's done a great job, we won't miss a step, and he'll do a great job preparing the quarterbacks during the playoffs,” Cignetti said.

Who Sunseri’s quarterback at UCLA will be remains to be seen. Ethan Garbers, UCLA’s starter since 2023, is expected to move on.

Sunseri’s current starting quarterback is just happy they’ll get to finish together, and perhaps, for four more games needed to win a national championship as the Hoosiers begin their College Football Playoff journey at Notre Dame on Dec. 20.

“Just very happy that he has an opportunity to go and continue his journey, his path, and his dream. Just very grateful for him because he's really accelerated and helped this offense, helped the players become and create opportunities for their personal life, and I'm just happy to see that he's taking advantage of an opportunity for him as well,” Rourke said.

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Todd Golden
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