When Notre Dame lost assistant head coach and running backs coach Deland McCullough to the Las Vegas Raiders last fall, most expected he'd be out of the college ranks for longer than a year. However, on Wednesday morning, the man that Marcus Freeman has heaped praise on in the past is back, this time with the Oklahoma Sooners.
McCullough's return to the college ranks wasn't entirely up to him. He likely thought his one-year stay in the NFL would be longer, considering he was working under the legendary Pete Caroll. However, Carroll was fired after a disastrous 2025 season, and there weren't many chairs left in the game.
Still, Notre Dame fans likely won't be happy to see a very talented and very popular former Fighting Irish assistant getting back into college coaching so soon. Even if they're plenty happy with McCullough's replacement. It's not as though Ja'Juan Seider was leaving after helping Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price take the next steps in 2025.
Former Notre Dame football assistant Deland McCullough returns to college coaching at Oklahoma
McCullough has bounced between the NFL and college football since 2000, when he began his coaching career. That's one reason for Irish fans to take heart. It doesn't feel like his arrival in Norman will be long-lived.
The former Notre Dame assistant replaces DeMarco Murray, who leaves Oklahoma to join the Kansas City Chiefs staff. Ironically enough, KC was one of McCullough's stops in his coaching career and was the last one before he came back to the college ranks the last time.
Before joining Notre Dame and Marcus Freeman's staff, Deland McCullough coached at Indiana. Interestingly, his son, Dasan McCullough, played at both Indiana and Oklahoma before finishing his college career this season at Nebraska.