Football
- Title:
- Running Backs
- Phone:
- 205-348-3600
Joe Pannunzio returned to Alabama in 2017 and begins his second year on head coach Nick Saban's staff. Pannunzio will coach the Crimson Tide's running backs in 2018 after serving as the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach in 2017. He also spent four years with the program as the director of football operations from 2011-14.
He inherits an outstanding group of running backs in 2018 led by the return of senior Damien Harris who is coming off of back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. Joining Harris are junior Josh Jacobs and sophomores Najee Harris and Brian Robinson.
Pannunzio, who coached the tight ends in 2017, developed a versatile group led by Hale Hentges and Irv Smith Jr. who stepped to the forefront after Miller Forristall was lost for the season with a knee injury. Smith led all tight ends with 14 catches for 128 yards and three touchdowns while Hentges added seven catches for 75 yards and three scores. Both were instrumental in the Tide's 13th ranked rushing attack that averaged 250.6 yards per game. On the special teams front, senior JK Scott was a finalist for the Ray Guy Award, given annually to the nation's top punter and a consensus second team All-America selection. Senior Andy Pappanastos has made 18-of-25 field goals and all 56 extra point tries while scoring a team-high 119 points, good for 27th nationally and fourth in the SEC at 8.5 points per game.
Pannunzio, who brings more than 30 years of coaching experience into the running backs room, returned to the Alabama program after spending the previous two seasons as the Philadelphia Eagles' director of personnel operations.
Prior to joining Alabama in 2011, Pannunzio was the tight ends coach/special teams coordinator at the University of Miami from 2006-10. During his tenure with the Hurricanes, Pannunzio tutored players such as Greg Olsen (1st round Chicago, 2007), Jimmy Graham (3rd round New Orleans, 2010), Dedrick Epps (7th round San Diego, 2010) and punter Matt Bosher (6th round Atlanta, 2011). Miami made four bowl appearances in his five years in Coral Gables.
Pannunzio plucked Graham off the Hurricanes' basketball team after his basketball eligibility had expired. He helped groom him into a threat at tight end for Miami, catching 17 passes for 213 yards and five touchdowns in his only season on the gridiron before becoming an All-Pro tight end who has appeared in four Pro Bowls for the New Orleans Saints and Seattle Seahawks.
Olsen earned All-ACC honors under Pannunzio's guidance in 2006, catching 40 passes for 489 yards and a touchdown. Bosher was a three time All-ACC specialist for the Canes (2008-2010), including being named a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award (best placekicker) as a sophomore in 2008. He finished his career averaging over 40 yards per punt while making 84.9 percent of his career field goal attempts (45-of-53).
Pannunzio spent six years as the head coach at Murray State from 2000-05, leading the Racers to the 2002 Ohio Valley Championship with a 6-2 conference record and a berth in the NCAA I-AA playoffs. He joined Mike Gottfried, Frank Beamer and Houston Nutt as one of just four head coaches in school history to win a conference title. He posted a 30-37 record in his six years with Murray State.
Prior to becoming a head coach, Pannunzio spent five years working for Tommy Tuberville at Ole Miss (1995-98) and Auburn (1999) as the tight ends and special teams coach. He also served in the same capacity for four years under Jim Wacker at TCU (1991) and Minnesota (1992-94).
While at Ole Miss, Pannunzio helped the Rebels qualify for two bowl games. Ole Miss won the 1997 Motor City Bowl and followed that with a victory in 1998 Independence Bowl over Texas Tech. He coached tight end Kris Mangum for two seasons with the Rebels before he embarked on a 10 year NFL career with the Carolina Panthers.
In his second stint with Mesa (Colo.) College from 1987-90, Pannunzio worked as the offensive coordinator. He originally joined Mesa from 1982-84, when he coached the quarterbacks and wide receivers. During his seven years at Mesa, the team twice appeared in the NAIA National Championship game and once led the nation in total offense and scoring. Between those two periods, Pannunzio was the tight ends coach at Kansas from 1985-86.
A native of Pueblo, Colo., Pannunzio was a standout quarterback at Southern Colorado, earning honorable mention all-conference and in 1980. He also began his coaching career at his alma mater, working with wide receivers in 1981.
He and his wife, Rita, have two daughters, Angela Brown and Nico Segura, and a son, Mario. They have two grandsons, Michael Jo and Paul Mason Brown, and son-in-laws Michael Brown and Jason Segura.
