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Report: Oklahoma LB Dasan McCullough Chooses Transfer Destination

The Sooners' linebacker transferred to OU after a standout freshman season at Indiana and was a solid playder when he was able to stay healthy.

John E. Hoover

Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables and linebacker Dasan McCullough
Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables and linebacker Dasan McCullough / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
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A key piece of Oklahoma’s defense has found a new home — and he’s back in the Big Ten.

Linebacker Dasan McCullough, a part-time starter during his two seasons in Norman, will play the 2025 season for the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

The news was announced Sunday by On3’s Hayes Fawcett.

As a freshman at Indiana, McCullough totaled 49 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and four sacks playing primarily as a defensive end. He also was credited with three pass breakups.

He transferred to OU in 2023 and moved to Venables’ cheetah linebacker position, where he ended with 30 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and three passes defended. 

After missing the start of the 2024 season due to a foot injury, McCullough finished with 17 total tackles this past season, including 2.5 tackles for loss. 

With the emergence of converted cornerback Kendel Dolby at the cheetah, McCullough experimented last spring as more of a pure inside linebacker, but Dolby’s season-ending injury necessitated McCullough’s return to cheetah when he finally overcame his foot injury.

McCullough played 195 total snaps (160 on defense) after finally getting healthy at midseason this year. As a sophomore in 2023, he played 356 total snaps (276 defense).

Last year McCullough finished second on the team (to noseguard Isaiah Coe) with an overall PFF defensive grade of 79.5, including an 88.2 in pass coverage and a 73.6 in run defense.

With the injury this year, McCullough’s PFF rating of 64.5 ranked 17th among OU defenders with at least 100 snaps. 

The 6-foot-5, 235-pound McCullough arrived at OU last year amid much fanfare following his freshman year with the Hoosiers, when he received Freshman All-America accolades. He transferred to OU at the same time his younger brother, Daeh McCullough, arrived as a freshman defensive back, a 4-star prospect. Daeh transferred to Louisville after the 2023 season, however.

McCullough graduated from Bloomington South High School in Bloomington, IN, and he was rated as a consensus 4-star prospect when he signed with the Hoosiers. 

The son of Notre Dame associate head coach and running backs coach Deland McCullough, Dasan will have one year of eligibility remaining. 

This year's NCAA Transfer Portal opened officially opened on Monday. The winter transfer portal window will be open from Dec. 9-28. To be eligible to play right away in 2025, players must enter their name into the transfer portal before Dec. 28.

Players do not have to know their destination by Dec. 28, they just have to be in the portal when the window closes to retain immediate eligibility for the 2025 season. 

The spring portal window runs from April 16-25, 2025.

The Sooners have seen 25 players leave from the 2024 roster via the transfer portal, while only seven newcomers have signed with OU since the portal opened on Dec. 9.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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