Florida State assistant Sal Sunseri joining Raiders as linebackers coach

After spending most of their time on the offensive side of the ball, we have the second hire along the defensive side of the ball. According to sources, the Raiders will be hiring Florida State defensive end coach Sal Sunseri to the defensive staff.

Sunseri will be the Raiders linebackers coach. He coached the defensive ends at Florida State the past two seasons, but he was the linebackers coach at Alabama for three seasons from 2009-11.

Some expected that he would coach the defensive line due to the fact that his only stint in the NFL was as Defensive Line Coach for the Panthers for seven seasons from 2002-08. Though prior to that he was almost exclusively a linebackers coach at the college level for 16 years.

The Raiders have yet to confirm they have a defensive coordinator yet. Among those reported to have interviewed are Eric Mangini and Mike Smith. Mangini just accepted the DC position with the 49ers with no sign of Smith taking the job.

For a bit of an intro to Sunseri, here is a report CSN Bay Area's Fallon Smith did on him while she was covering Tennessee football back in 2012.

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