Notre Dame Coaching Profile: Deland McCullough, Running Backs

A look at the new running backs coach Deland McCullough, who comes to Notre Dame from Indiana

Notre Dame worked relatively quickly to land a new running backs coach, and Marcus Freeman hit a home run by landing former Indiana and Kansas City Chiefs running backs coach Deland McCullough.

McCullough comes to Notre Dame with a strong reputation as a smart coach, a great teacher, a strong recruiter and someone who values building up his players off the field as a mentor.

Let's look at what Notre Dame is getting with McCullough.

BACKGROUND

Born: Dec. 1, 1972 (49 years old) in Pittsburgh, Pa.

McCullough was born in Pittsburgh but was raised in the Youngstown, Ohio area. He has an incredible personal story, and if you are not familiar with it you'll want to correct that. You can do so by reading the profile ESPN did on him, which you can find HERE.

McCullough played running back at Miami (Ohio). He finished his career with 4,368 rushing yards and 36 touchdowns, which at the time were a program record. He now ranks second all-time in both categories and is in the Miami Hall of Fame.

The former running back rushed for 1,026 yards as a redshirt freshman in 1992, 1,103 yards in 1994 and he went for 1,627 yards and 14 touchdowns in his final season (1995). McCullough also caught 82 passes during his career.

COACHING EXPERIENCE

McCullough got his coaching start in high school before going to Miami (Ohio) as an intern in 2010. The following year he was hired to coach running backs at Indiana, a job he held from 2011-16. 

The following year he was hired by USC, where he spent one season before being hired by the Kansas City Chiefs to coach running backs. He spent three seasons (2018-20) with the Chiefs and was part of the staff that won Super Bowl LIV. 

Kansas City beat San Francisco 31-20 in the Super Bowl. Running back Damien Williams rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown and caught four passes for 29 yards and another touchdown. 

Williams scored on a 5-yard reception in the fourth quarter to give the Chiefs a 24-20 lead, and his 38-yard touchdown run with just over a minute left put the game away.

McCullough returned to Indiana for the 2021 season.

The Pittsburgh native has been a college running backs coach for eight seasons but his backs have put up very impressive production. Here's a look at running backs he has coached during his college career.

2011-12 - Stephen Houston, Indiana - 1,551 rush yards, 5.0 YPC, 20 TD
2013 - Tevin Coleman, Indiana - 958 rush yards, 7.3 YPC, 12 TD (9 games)
2014 - Tevin Coleman, Indiana - 2,036 rush yards, 7.5 YPC, 15 TD
2015 - Jordan Howard, Indiana - 1,213 rush yards, 6.2 YPC, 9 TD
2015 - Devine Redding, Indiana - 1,012 rush yards, 4.5 YPC, 9 TD
2016 - Devin Redding, Indiana - 1,122 rush yards, 4.4 YPC, 7 TD
2017 - Ronald Jones, USC - 1,550 rush yards, 5.9 YPC, 19 TD

Coleman was a 3rd round NFL Draft pick of the Atlanta Falcons.

Howard was a 5th round NFL Draft pick of the Chicago Bears.

Jones was a 2nd round NFL Draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In 2014, Indiana rushed for 263.6 yards per game. It averaged 201.8 rushing yards per game in 2013 and 210.5 rushing yards per game in 2015. USC averaged 185.1 yards per game in 2017.

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