Florida Gators add Knox and Sunseri to coaching staff

The Florida Gators added two new coaches on Wednesday. Dan Mullen announced the hire of former Mississippi State running backs coach and interim head coach Greg Knox, along with former Oakland Raiders linebackers coach Sal Sunseri.

Florida’s release didn’t specify what roles the two would have but it’s likely that Knox will coach tight ends while Sunseri will coach the defensive line.

Knox follows Mullen from Mississippi State to Florida. He was the Bulldogs’ running backs coach from 2009-17. Knox has over 20 years of experience coaching in the Southeastern Conference. He has made stops at Ole Miss, Auburn and Mississippi State prior to this stop in Gainesville.

Sal Sunseri has more than 34 years of coaching experience, including 10 in the NFL and five in the SEC. Prior to his time in Oakland he spent two years with Florida State where he coached defensive ends. Sunseri was also the defensive coordinator at Tennessee (2012) and linebackers coach at Alabama (2009-11).

The additions of Knox and Sunseri give the Gators seven assistant coaches hired by Mullen. Two additional staffers in JaJuan Seider and Tim Skipper remain on the listed in the staff directory on the team’s website but no official determination has been given about their future with the team. Seider has been actively recruiting for the Gators with Mullen. Skipper has not been seen as actively on the recruiting trail but has coached on both sides of the ball during his time coaching in college.

Nick de la Torre
A South Florida native, Nick developed a passion for all things sports at a very young age. His love for baseball was solidified when he saw Al Leiter’s no-hitter for the Marlins live in May of 1996. He was able to play baseball in college but quickly realized there isn’t much of a market for short, slow outfielders that hit around the Mendoza line. Wanting to continue with sports in some capacity he studied journalism at the University of Central Florida. Nick got his first start in the business as an intern for a website covering all things related to the NFL draft before spending two seasons covering the Florida football team at Bleacher Report. That job led him to GatorCountry. When he isn’t covering Gator sports, Nick enjoys hitting way too many shots on the golf course, attempting to keep up with his favorite t.v. shows and watching the Heat, Dolphins and Marlins. Follow him on twitter @NickdelatorreGC