Indiana set to hire Maryland analyst to fill running backs role

A week after losing running backs coach Deland McCullough to Notre Dame, Indiana has found his replacement. The Hoosiers are set to hire Craig Johnson as running backs coach and associate head coach, according to ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg.

Source: #Hoosiers are expected to hire Craig Johnson as running backs coach and associate head coach. Johnson most recently worked as an analyst at Maryland. He has coached running backs and quarterbacks in the NFL (Giants, Titans, Vikings), and was OC at Maryland in 1997-98.

— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) February 7, 2022

Craig Johnson is currently coaching as an analyst at the University of Maryland but he has extensive history coaching in the NFL. Johnson has been at Maryland for two seasons. Prior to assisting the Terrapins, his last post in the collegiate ranks was as offensive coordinator at Maryland in 1997.

Johnson served as running backs coach for the New York Giants from 2014-2019. Prior to New York, he coached quarterbacks with the Vikings for two seasons. He got his start in the NFL with the Tennessee Titans. He spent the 2000-2010 seasons in Nashville.

Indiana loses running backs coach to Notre Dame

Last week, news broke that Notre Dame and Marcus Freeman were hiring away Deland McCullough from Indiana.

In McCullough, Marcus Freeman’s staff at Notre Dame picks up a big addition to their coaching pool. In seven years of coaching, McCullough has helped coach seven 1,000-yard running backs. Five of his featured players have reached the NFL — Stephen Houston, Tevin Coleman, Jordan Howard, Devine Redding and Ronald Jones.

In 2015 and 2016, Coleman and Howard were the first Indiana running backs selected in the NFL draft in consecutive years since 1990-92.

The good news for Notre Dame comes as a disappointment for Indiana fans, as McCullough’s hiring was a big win for them before the 2021 season. McCullough coached for the Kansas City Chiefs from 2018-20 as their running backs coach, winning a Super Bowl in 2020. He was a part of the Chiefs’ run of three-straight AFC Championship appearances and their back-to-back Super Bowl appearances.

As a player, McCullough received his induction into the Miami (OH) Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004. He was the first Miami player to earn MAC Freshman of the Year in 1992, and was a finalist for the Doak Walker Award. McCullough went on to play professionally across multiple leagues, playing for the Cincinnati Bengals, Philadelphia Eagles, the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the XFL’s Chicago Enforcers.