Tennessee Defensive Coordinator Sal Sunseri is Sad About Having to Play His Son This Weekend

This week’s showdown between Alabama and Tennessee is interesting for a number of reasons.

First and foremost, whenever Alabama (the nation’s top team) plays, it’s a must-watch event. Just for the caliber of football that is on display. Beyond that, though, the Vols are a pretty intriguing bunch in their own right. Yes Derek Dooley is on the hot seat, and yes this team does have an innate tendency to underachieve – but they do still have enough talent to be a really legitimate squad.

Losses against Florida, Georgia and Mississippi State aren’t exactly equivalent to losses against some weak little Big Ten teams. Tennessee could challenge Nick Saban and Co. if they don’t bring their A game.

One of the interesting subplots to be aware of in this outing is the fact that Vols defensive coordinator, Sal Sunseri, will be playing against his son, Alabama defensive back Vinnie Sunseri.

When asked about the looming showdown, Sal had this to say (via Yahoo! Sports):




Vinnie, for his part, wasn’t especially comfortable with the idea of playing against his dad either.

"Very, very tough," Vinnie replied when playing against his father (via Birmingham News). "A lot of mixed emotions. Hard. Hard, hard, hard. I'm getting a lot of calls from the family saying good luck to me, but I know they're just giving the same, exact advice to my dad. It's tough. It's really tough. But I'm excited to see my dad."

Alabama versus Tennessee will air at 7 p.m. EST on ESPN.

(Kudos Yahoo! Sports)