BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football quarterback Josh Hoover has enjoyed the early days of getting to know his new position coach, Tino Sunseri.
The Hoosiers are hoping the partnership will be a fruitful one with Sunseri back in the fold after an abbreviated stint as UCLA’s offensive coordinator.
“Coach Tino’s been great,” Hoover told The Herald-Times after volunteering at the Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center’s summer day camp on June 11. “He’s very, very demanding and very detail oriented.”
Sunseri’s initial stint working for IU coach Curt Cignetti started in 2021 at James Madison, where his pupils — Cole Johnson, Todd Centeio and Jordan McCloud — won awards and set program records in equal measure. In 2024, Sunseri helped Kurtis Rourke emerge as one of the country’s top passers at Indiana.
Rourke became the fourth IU quarterback to surpass 3,000 yards, set a then-team record with 29 passing touchdowns and finished top-10 in the Heisman voting. He also finished the season with the country’s second-best passer rating (176.0).
Sunseri’s coaching philosophy, one he often refers to it as trying to instill a “sniper mentality,” revolves around extreme precision and focus.
“That’s exactly what you want playing this position,” Hoover said. “I think anytime you go out there and you don’t have that kind of frame of mind and mindset then obviously you’re not prepared as well as you should be. Having a coach that really demands that and really demands perfection makes me a lot better.”
Sunseri’s workload balance is a bit different than Hoover’s past position coaches. At TCU, Hoover worked with Garrett Riley (2022) and Kendal Briles (2023-25), who coached quarterbacks while also calling plays as the Horned Frogs offensive coordinator.
While Sunseri has plenty of input on the offense — he has co-offensive coordinator in his job title — Indiana offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan runs the meetings and is Indiana’s dedicated play caller. They have a working relationship dating back to their time as teammates at Pittsburgh.
Cignetti split the offensive coordinator and quarterback coaching duties up for the first time back when he promoted Shanahan at JMU in 2021, and initially hired Sunseri in Harrisonburg.
Hoover is hoping to follow the same trajectory as the previous transfer quarterbacks Sunseri mentored. He’s spent his down time on campus diving into film of Cignetti’s scheme, which involved watching cut ups of all the quarterbacks Sunseri worked with.
The former TCU quarterback already has an impressive resume as the most productive returning passer in the FBS with 9,629 career yards, but there is still room for growth. During spring camp, Cignetti talked about the need for Hoover to cut down on turnovers, while upping his practice intensity.
Hoover exited spring practice feeling good about the progress he’s made with Sunseri fueling those improvements.
“I know I’ve gotten a lot better since I’ve been here,” Hoover said. “And, you know, a lot of that’s Coach Tino and the things he’s told me and taught me. And I’m excited to continue to work with him.”
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana QB Josh Hoover embraces coach Tino Sunseri’s ‘sniper mentality’
Reporting by Michael Niziolek, The Herald-Times / Indianapolis Star
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By Michael Niziolek, The Herald-Times | USA TODAY Network
