USC hires Indiana’s Deland McCullough as running back’s coach
USC’s stable of running backs has a new coach.
USC has hired Deland McCullough, the running backs coach at Indiana for the last six seasons, as its running backs coach, the team announced Friday.
McCullough led a resurgence at the position at Indiana. He coached Tevin Coleman and Jordan Howard, who became back-to-back All-Big Ten first team players and the first Indiana running backs in the last quarter century to be drafted in consecutive years.
In 2015, Indiana was one of just two power-conference teams with two 1,000-yard rushers, Howard and Devine Redding.
The Trojans have a stable of talent at the position, with Ronald Jones II as the incumbent and young, talented runners including Aca’Cedric Ware and freshman Stephen Carr.
Tommie Robinson coached the position last season before leaving for Louisiana State. Robinson was also one of USC’s most effective recruiters.
McCullough, 44, was a former finalist for the Doak Walker Award, given to the nation’s best running back, at Miami (Ohio) and played for two seasons in the NFL. Before Miami, he was a high school teacher and football coach in Cincinnati.
Follow Zach Helfand on Twitter @zhelfand
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