With Big Brother By His Side, Oklahoma DB Daeh McCullough is Learning Fast
NORMAN — Daeh McCullough has questions.
Of course he does, he’s a college freshman at Oklahoma trying to navigate the mental rigors of Brent Venables’ defense.
But there are answers not far away.
Big brother Dasan McCullough — himself a newcomer at OU who’s trying to cram Venables’ playbook before the 2023 season arrives — is literally by his side at practice.
“Oh, it’s exciting,” Dasan said after practice on Monday. “We were by each other basically the whole day on the sideline just talking. This is literally what we dreamt of, getting to play with each other.”
Dasan was a freshman All-American at Indiana last year while Daeh was a 4-star safety at Saint Joseph’s High School in South Bend, IN. Dasan transferred and enrolled early at OU and made an impression during spring practice at the Sooners' linebacker-safety hybrid spot Venables calls cheetah. Daeh was a summer enrollee and didn’t get to Oklahoma until June, and now he's a safety.
Their dad Deland is Notre Dame’s running backs coach.
Occasionally during the hot Oklahoma summer they’ve looked around and taken stock of the fact that they’re together in Norman, putting their prodigious athletic talents to work for Venables’ Sooner defense. It’s been good that they have each other to lean on — particularly outside of football. That’s especially true for newcomers.
“It’s great just having him here,” Daeh said, “because obviously there’s days that everybody isn’t gonna be at their best and you’re just gonna feel down. So just having your family there to talk to in person and not just over the phone is great.”
With Dasan in the transfer portal and with Daeh verbally committed to Cincinnati among his 20 offers (which included Penn State, Michigan, Mississippi State, Florida, Arkansas, Utah and Oklahoma State, among others), they ended up pledging to the Sooners on the same day, Dec. 12.
So who went first?
“Me,” Daeh said. “I committed in front of BV. I think like maybe like two minutes before he did.”
It was not staged, he said. Not planned out.
“I didn’t know he was gonna commit that day,” Daeh said. ”He just did it after I did it, randomly. So I didn’t even know.”
Still, they both said OU was the school that served their best interests, the school that provided them both the right fit. Venables had recruited Dasan at Clemson, so he already had a relationship with the McCullough family. Ultimately, OU and Venables won them over.
“Just the family environment, the coaches, the players, just everybody making us feel welcome here,” Daeh said. “BV was a big part of it. A huge part of it. The SOUL Mission was a huge part of us, just preparing us for life after football really was like, the biggest part of it all.”
There’s a reason family resonated so strongly with the brothers. They grew up in a close-knit, devout football family.
So what’s it like having a dad who coaches college football?
“Uh, football,” Daeh said. “That’s all it is. Football, football, football. I mean, my dad is a coach. I done pretty much heard everything a million times, just being told, ‘effort, availability, accountability,’ all these things, ‘togetherness.’ I’ve been hearing that my whole life.”
And hearing those messages all the time, being exposed to the life on an everyday basis, being at practice when the Hoosiers or the Fighting Irish or the Kansas City Chiefs are getting some work done — it all laid the groundwork for football success that comes in handy for newcomers.
“Yeah, definitely,” Daeh said. “Just being very disciplined and knowing your part and your role on the team as a freshman — just get your role down first.”
The team has been practicing for less than a week, and already the brothers have been able to enjoy the other’s company.
“It’s been exciting,” Dasan said. “I mean, he was by me all day today. Just the fact that, you know, we could both live out this moment together, it’s crazy. I mean, we've been talking about this since we were in high school. So us finally being out here doing it, it's been crazy. It's been a crazy experience.”
Daeh said he’s called home and knows he can turn to his dad any time for anything. But he’s not made a daily habit out of seeking advice from him on how to take on cut blocks or read a route tree or handle the intensity of Venables’ drills.
Dasan (1) and Daeh McCullough
Daeh McCullough via Twitter
Although it’s coming at him fast and there’s a lot to take in, football isn’t that all that different here, he said.
“Run fast. Hit hard. Be smart. Aggressive,” Daeh said. “Just like anywhere, really.
“It’s an eye-opener for me personally, because honestly, I’ve been around college football and practices. But this — now I’m really first-hand experiencing it. So it’s me doing the straining and not just watching somebody else. So it’s definitely eye-opening just being here. Obviously it’s still crazy being here.”
“I can’t wait to line up there with him and get some plays with him,” Dasan said. “I’m excited he’s here, for sure.”
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