Notre Dame football coach on Indiana Hoosiers shortlist?

Notre Dame football head coach has made it clear he wants his staff mostly in tact, but could another departure be on the way shortly?

On Monday, Notre Dame football head coach Marcus Freeman made it clear that he wanted to keep his staff together as much as he possibly could. On Tuesday he fired wide receivers coach Chansi Stuckey.

Could this week bring more upheaval on the Fighting Irish coaching staff? The coaching carousel has been spinning so fast lately, it’s hard to claim with any certainty that it wouldnt.

If it does continue spinning in South Bend, the odds-on favorites to leave are either Gerad Parker also getting his pink slip, or Al Golden taking a head coaching job elsewhere.

However, there is a darkhorse candidate arising for the next assistant coach to leave the Notre Dame football program. According to Bruce Feldman of the Athletic, it’s possible that running backs coach Deland McCullough is on the shortlist to replace Tom Allen at Indiana.

"“Deland McCullough also has some strong ties to IU. The former NFL running back spent two stints in Bloomington. He’s done an outstanding job wherever he’s coached and has been regarded as a top assistant coach, regardless of position, for a long time.”"

Notre Dame football coach headed to Bloomington?

Strong ties might be a bit of an understatement when it comes to McCoullough. As a college football coach he’s put in more years with Indiana (7) than he has with all the other schools combined.

He’s had two different stints in Bloomington with the first serving as the Indiana running backs coach from 2011 to 2016 before leaving for USC for a year. After three years with the Kansas City Chiefs from 2018-2020, he returned to the Hoosiers to be Tom Allen’s running backs coach and Associate Head Coach in 2021.

That of course means that if Indiana were to hire him, there’s still a few players that remember form his last stay in with the program.

It’s hard not to think there’s a special pull from the Hoosiers. And it’s hard not to think he’ll get some special consideration.

Notre Dame football fans could be bracing for more uncertainty on the coaching staff very shortly.