Report: Notre Dame hires away Big Ten associate head coach

Notre Dame is prepared to hire their newest coaching addition from the Big Ten Conference, according to a report on Monday. Notre Dame will hire Indiana’s Deland McCullough as their new running backs coach, per The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman.

Notre Dame grabs Big Ten coaching talent

“Indiana running backs coach/associate head coach Deland McCullough is expected to become the new running backs coach at Notre Dame,” stated Feldman. “Terrific hire for Notre Dame. The 49-year-old former NFL running back helped the Chiefs win a Super Bowl and has been on staff at USC, and IU.”

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.

McCullough returned to Indiana afterwards for his second stint as a Hoosiers coach, having previously coached with them from 2011-16.

As a player, McCullough was inducted into the Miami (OH) Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004. He was the first Miami player to be named 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.