Deland McCullough turns down New York Giants to be Notre Dame's RBs coach, per report
Former Miami University standout running back Deland McCullough chose his new position as running backs coach at Notre Dame over an opportunity to become a top-paid RBs coach with the NFL's New York Giants, according to a report Sunday from FOX Sports' Bruce Feldman.
McCullough left the Indiana Hoosiers' coaching staff earlier this month to join Notre Dame's.
From Feldman via Twitter:
SOURCE: Deland McCullough had an opportunity to become a top-paid RB coach in the NFL w/ the Giants, and working with Brian Daboll was tempting but he's staying at Notre Dame. He came back to college to position himself to be a head coach and believes success at ND will do that.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) February 6, 2022
In December, former Cincinnati Bearcats defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman was introduced as the head coach of the Fighting Irish. He replaced Brian Kelly, who left South Bend to become the LSU Tigers' head coach. Freeman worked as a coordinator and linebackers coach under UC head coach Luke Fickell from 2017 to 2020.
About one year ago, McCullough left his position as the Kansas City Chiefs' running backs coach to become IU's running backs coach and associate head coach.
McCullough was the Hoosiers' running backs coach from 2011 to 2016. He spent one year with USC before becoming an assistant with the Chiefs in 2018.
McCullough finished his Miami career as the school's all-time leading rusher with 4,368 yards. Only Travis Prentice has since eclipsed McCullough's rushing total at MU.
McCullough played for the Bengals for parts of two seasons and briefly played for the Philadelphia Eagles, the CFL's Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the XFL's Chicago Enforcers.
McCullough, who won a Super Bowl with the Chiefs in 2020, tweeted that he's rooting for the Bengals to win Super Bowl LVI after they defeated Kansas City:
Nooooooooooooooooooo!!!
All love Bengals!!! Go win it all…— Deland McCullough (@coachdmc) January 30, 2022
He was the head football coach at Harmony Community School and an offensive and special teams intern - and later running backs coach - for the RedHawks in 2010 and 2011 before leaving for Indiana.
In 2018, Deland's search for his biological parents was the subject of an E:60 episode in which he discovered that his father was none other than Sherman Smith - then MU's running backs coach, McCullough's mentor and "the man he had looked up to since he was 16 years old," according to ESPN.com's Sarah Spain.
When the Chiefs hired McCullough in Jan. 2018, they promoted former Bengals running back and kick returner Eric Bieniemy to offensive coordinator. Bieniemy reportedly interviewed Sunday for the New Orleans Saints' head-coaching vacancy.
McCullough's son, Dasan, a Class of 2022 linebacker who grew up in Cincinnati, committed in Aug. 2020 to play for the Ohio State University Buckeyes. He flipped from OSU to IU last year. Dasan's brother, Daeh, a Class of 2023 safety, also committed to the Hoosiers.
Dasan's older brother, Deland II, played cornerback for the Miami RedHawks before transferring to IU.
LOVE SPORTS? [ Subscribe now for unlimited access to Cincinnati.com ]
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Deland McCullough turns down NFL's Giants to be Notre Dame's RBs coach
