When former Notre Dame football runningbacks coach Deland McCullough left South Bend for the Las Vegas Raiders this offseason, do you think he knew that he would have the best rookie running back in the league to work with in his first year?
I assume he probably hoped that Ashton Jeanty would fall to No. 6, but considering there has already been some high drama in the 2025 NFL Draft already, so it’s never smart to assume that the expected will happen.
Deland McCullough lands dream rookie RB pairing with Raiders
Despite that drama, the former Notre Dame coach did get his man as the Las Vegas Raiders selected the former Boise State superstar with their first pick. And now its new runningbacks coach will get to have quite the tool to show the NFL what they can both do.
McCullough is a member of Pete Carroll’s new staff in Vegas and was a big of a surprise when he announced he was headed out of South Bend. However, it’s hard not to answer the call when the NFL comes calling and Notre Dame faithful certainly understood why he left.
If Travis Hunter didn’t exist, Jeanty would have almost certainly won the 2024 Heisman Trophy as he ran for a whopping 2,601 yards and 29 touchdowns. He also got to a nice round 30 total touchdowns thanks to 23 catches and 139 yards on the ground, as well as that one other TD.
While there are some concerns that the former Boise State super star has some fumble problems he’ll need to work on, he just happens to be working with one of the best running backs coaches in the game in McCullough.
Wishing the former Notre Dame football coach well on his journey with the Las Vegas Raiders comes easier considering the Fighting Irish replaced him with ex-Penn State RB coach Ja’Juan Seider, who just also happens to be considered one of the best in the business.