Irish Breakdown

Key Notre Dame Assistant Coach Returning to NFL

Deland McCullough leaves an incredibly talented running back room behind at Notre Dame
Nick Shepkowski|
Apr 20, 2024; Notre Dame, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish Gold team coach Deland McCullough celebrates after a touchdown in the Blue-Gold Game at Notre Dame Stadium.
Apr 20, 2024; Notre Dame, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish Gold team coach Deland McCullough celebrates after a touchdown in the Blue-Gold Game at Notre Dame Stadium. | Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame Fighting IrishLas Vegas Raiders

As is usually the case with successful teams, others come poaching talent in hopes of repeating the success in the organization.

It was rumored to be happening when the Chicago Bears wanted to interview Marcus Freeman, it happened when defensive coordinator Al Golden went to the Cincinnati Bengals, when Notre Dame general manager Chad Bowden was pulled away by USC and it has happened again as running backs coach Deland McCullough is headed back to the NFL.

Matt Freeman of Irish Sports Daily broke the news late Wednesday night that McCullough will be leaving Notre Dame to take the same role with the Las Vegas Raiders.

McCullough is the latest in a string of strong running backs coaches at Notre Dame. He heads back to the AFC West where he coached the Kansas City Chiefs running backs during their run to capture Super Bowl 44. This news is hardly a shock as McCullough interviewed for the head coaching position at Ohio University earlier this cycle.

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Take:

Don't get me wrong, on a long list of strong Notre Dame running backs coaches in recent years, McCullough was as good as any. That includes Lance Taylor, who is now a head coach at Western Michigan and Autry Denson, who is now the running backs coach with the Arizona Cardinals.

As much as the shock of this stings for Notre Dame fans, because of how he left the Fighting Irish backfield, this is a position nearly any running backs coach in the country should be very interested in.

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Nick Shepkowski
NICK SHEPKOWSKI

Managing Editor for Notre Dame On SI. Started covering Chicago sports teams for WSCR the Score, and over the years worked with CBS Radio, Audacy, NBC Sports, and FOX Sports as a contributor before running the Notre Dame wire site for USA TODAY.

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