Deland McCullough / Notre Dame Running Back Caoch

Deland McCullough begins his tenure as Notre Dame running backs coach and brings solid tutoring skills career that have boosted his career. Prior to choosing the Irish earlier this year, McCullough was pursued by the New York Giants.

McCullough played collegiately at Miami (Ohio) before then playing in the NFL, CFL and XFL. The coaching portion of his football career didn’t get underway until 2011. That was when he returned to his alma mater as an intern on offense and special teams as well as coaching running backs.

In 2012, McCullough began to make his mark with a five-year run as running backs coach for the Indiana Hoosiers. His arrival coincided with an improved Hoosiers’ running game that helped reduce fumbling that first year. Players such as Tevin Coleman and Jordan Howard were eventually drafted, while Devine Redding delivered back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons.

That level of success led to McCullough’s year of serving as Southern Cal’s run game coordinator and running backs coach in 2017. In that single season, he helped Ronald Jones put forth a monster season with 1,550 yards and 19 touchdowns, with the Irish one of the few schools to keep him in check with just 32 yards on the night.

McCullough then joined the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs for three seasons and was part of their Super Bowl championship squad during the 2019 campaign. After another trip to the Super Bowl the following year, McCullough took a surprising detour to return to coach the Hoosier running backs.