Report: Vinnie Sunseri leaving Patriots' coaching staff, joining Steve Belichick at Washington

BOSTON -- Jerod Mayo and the Patriots are in need of a new running backs coach.

According to Bruce Feldman of The Athletic, coach Vinnie Sunseri is leaving New England to join Jedd Fisch's coaching staff at the University of Washington.

Sunseri will be coaching on defense, according to the report, which means he'll be working closely with Steve Belichick, who likewise left New England. Steve Belichick will be the Huskies' defensive coordinator. 

Sunseri, 32, played as a safety in the NFL after being drafted out of Alabama by the Saints in the fifth round of the 2014 draft. After spending one season as a graduate assistant for Nick Saban at Alabama, he joined the Patriots' coaching staff in 2020 as a defensive assistant. He became a running backs coach in 2021 under longtime running backs coach Ivan Fears, and he remained at that position following Fears' retirement after the 2021 season.

After the mutual parting of ways with Bill Belichick this offseason, the coaching staff has expectedly undergone significant changes in a short time period. Jerod Mayo was elevated from linebackers coach to head coach, and he hired Alex Van Pelt to run the offense (replacing Bill O'Brien) and Jeremy Springer to run special teams (replacing Cam Achord). Demarcus Covington was elevated from defensive line coach to defensive coordinator, too. Joe Houston, a special teams assistant, left New England for the University of Florida, while offensive line coach Adrian Klemm's tenure in New England is likely over after just one season. The statuses of safeties coach Brian Belichick, receivers/kick returners coach Troy Brown, assistant head coach Joe Judge and others on the staff remain undetermined at this time.