Notre Dame officially announces new running backs coach

Notre Dame officially has its new running backs coach. The Fighting Irish announced the hire Friday morning.

Deland McCullough, who spent last year as the associate head coach and running backs coach at Indiana, is the latest addition to Marcus Freeman’s staff. He has plenty of experience coaching running backs at the college level and in the NFL, helping the Chiefs win Super Bowl LIV in 2020.

He also got some NFL looks this offseason, notably with the New York Giants. Ultimately, he chose to go to South Bend and stay with the college game.

“Deland is as dynamic as you will find in our game when it comes to helping players reach, and at times even exceed, their potential,” Freeman said in a statement. “I have admired his work from a distance for several years, and I am so excited for our running backs to be able to bring in a coach who is going to get the most out of them on the field and also help them achieve their goals off of the field.”

McCullough got his coaching start in 2020 at Miami (Ohio) as offense and special teams intern and running backs coach. He headed to Indiana from there as running backs coach from 2011-16 before heading to USC for a year as run game coordinator and running backs coach in 2017. That’s when the Chiefs came calling, and he worked there for 2018 mentoring the likes of Kareem Hunt, Damien Williams and Le’Veon Bell.

After Kansas City won the Super Bowl, McCullough headed back to Indiana as associate head coach and running backs coach. Now, he’s heading to South Bend to join forces with Freeman, who’s putting together an impressive staff.

Former Indiana coach turns down NFL for Notre Dame coaching opportunity

Deland McCullough had an opportunity to become one of the highest-paid running backs coaches in the NFL, holding an offer with the New York Giants. Working with Brian Daboll was tempting but he’s heading to Notre Dame.

He came back to college to position himself to be a head coach and believes success at Notre Dame will do that, according to a report from Bruce Feldman.

Back on Feb. 1, Irish Illustrated reported that Notre Dame was set to hire McCullough as its next running backs coach. Three days later, it was reported that the New York Giants had offered him a job to return to the NFL.