The Notre Dame football team suffered one of its biggest losses of the offseason on Wednesday night when running backs coach Deland McCullough departed for the Las Vegas Raiders.
It’s been an interesting offseason for the Irish who have now lost a total of four coaches and two recruiting staffers to the NFL. Defensive coordinator Al Golden was considered the biggest loss, but it’s possible that McCullough might be the one whose exit is most painful in the long run.
Matt Freeman of Irish Sports Daily was the first to report McCullough leaving for the Raiders, but several other sources soon confirmed that report. At the very least, the loss is a big one ahead of what is expected to be a massive season for running back Jeremiyah Love. However, McCullough has also brought plenty of talent to South Bend.
🐎✊🏾☘️ https://t.co/DUMtkCsYnV
— Deland McCullough (@coachdmc) February 5, 2025
Notre Dame football on the lookout for new running backs coach
Love, Kedren Young, Aneyas Williams, and Nolan James Jr were all recruited by McCullough out of high school. He also brought transfer backs Gi'Bran Payne and Devyn Ford.
Even the players he wasn’t directly involved in bringing to the Irish have thrived under the running backs coach. The biggest case in point of that is Audric Estimè finishing with 1,341 yards and 18 touchdowns in 2023. While Estime didn’t impress many during the NFL combine, he did manage to make a name for himself once he landed with the Denver Broncos, rushing for 310 yards and 2 touchdowns in his rookie season.
Freeman furter reported that while McCullough was getting heavily recruited by NFL teams this offseason, he wasn’t leaving unless Andy Reid or Pete Carroll came calling. Unfortunately, Carroll was hired as the Raiders’ new head coach recently and did indeed, come to McCullough with a job offer.
It was a short (2022-2024) but effective stint for Deland McCullough with Notre Dame football and with an offense that has relied heavily on the run game, the hire of his replacement could be even more important than the new defensive coordinator was.