Recruiting Profile: Notre Dame RB Coach Deland McCullough
It has been a fascinating ride for new Notre Dame running back coach Deland McCullough. He comes with a great reputation as both a coach and recruiter, as well as spending time on both the college and NFL level. The coaching resume is pretty cut and dry - McCullough is the ultimate developer at the position. At Notre Dame, however, he'll need to be elite as a coach and recruiter.
Let's take a look at McCullough's recruiting profile during his coaching career.
RESUME THAT SPEAKS FOR ITSELF
Spending a big chunk of his career at the University of Indiana, McCullough’s impact was felt instantly by the Hoosiers. It began with running back Stephen Houston having a quality three-year stretch from 2011-13. Houston would rush for 2,304 yards and 29 total touchdowns during that stretch, all while averaging a healthy 5.4 yards per carry.
That stretch would lead right into one of McCullough’s finest works - future NFL running back Tevin Coleman. As part of a backfield with Houston in 2013, Colemand rushed for 958 yards and 12 touchdowns, averaging an absurd 7.3 yards per tote.
The next year Coleman would set a program record with 2,036 rushing yards during the 2014 campaign. Coleman would reach the end zone 15 times, while again posting an outstanding yards per carry average at 7.5.
While it took on a different style, McCullough again put out a talented backfield in 2015, seeing two runners eclipse the 1,000-yard mark with Devine Redding (1,012 yards, nine touchdowns) and Jordan Howard (1,213 yards, nine touchdowns). A season later Redding took the lead role with Howard in the NFL, and he racked up 1,122 yards and seven touchdowns.
McCullough would then head out west, spending the 2017 campaign as part of the USC program. There, star pupil Ronald Jones put together his best season with the Trojans, exploding for 1,550 yards and 20 total touchdowns en route to a second round selection in the 2018 NFL Draft.
McCullough parlayed that impressive string of success into the opportunity to coach running backs with the Kansas City Chiefs on the NFL level. During his three seasons from 2018-20, the Chiefs experienced a ton of success, including back-to-back Super Bowl appearances that included a victory in Super Bowl LIV.
With this type of resume, and a super bowl ring on his finger, playing for McCullough is a pretty easy sell.
RECRUITING RESUME
To understand the extent of his recruiting prowess, it’s important to consider the track record and areas/regions of strength. As the main recruiter, McCullough is responsible for signing the top rated recruit over at least the last 25 recruiting cycles for the Hoosiers.
Now some context to consider, that recruit was McCullough’s son Dasan in the 2022 class, ranking as the No. 75 player from 247Sports. The Hoosiers also have a commitment from Coach McCullough’s other son Daeh, who is a consensus four-star safety in the 2023 class.
Aside from those obvious family ties, he's had some impressive success on the recruiting trails during his time at Indiana. McCullough would go into the state of Ohio, securing the commitment from the aforementioned Devine Redding. He stayed in the Buckeye State, signing former Big Ten All-Freshman team honoree Morgan Ellison, who was dismissed from the team following that 2017 campaign.
McCullough has some substantial ties in the state of Ohio. He grew up in Ohio before becoming a star running back at Miami (Ohio) from 1992-95, setting a then program record with 4,368 rushing yards and 36 touchdowns.
Before he left his second stint with the Hoosiers, McCullough would secure a talented four-star running back in the 2022 class, again in the state of Ohio in Gi’Bran Payne, the nation's No. 276 player in the country.
One of McCullogh’s biggest wins outside of the state of Ohio or Indiana, he was able to secure a commitment from former All-Big Ten defensive lineman Jerome Johnson in the 2016 class out of the state of Mississippi.
During his lone year with the USC program, McCullough was able to lure former Notre Dame commit Markese Stepp out to Southern California, marking his biggest win for the Trojans.
WHAT TO EXPECT AT NOTRE DAME
Continued context: the star debate won’t properly quantify McCullough’s impact on the recruiting trail. Spending the majority of his career at Indiana, there is a cap on the impact he can have, especially sharing the state with a power like Notre Dame. Indiana has long been near the end of the totem pole in the Big Ten - and despite that, he has still managed to identify and develop some top notch running backs during his tenure.
Spending a long season with the Trojans also doesn’t give a huge sample size of his overreaching impact. You have seen the moments of real promise on the trail but there is still a relative unknown for just how much impact Coach McCullough can have.
For now, the worst case scenario is that Notre Dame has put an outstanding coach and developer of talent on the staff. If he is also the recruiter he is rumored to be, the Notre Dame backfield is about to reach a new level of heights in the very near future.
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