Indiana University Athletics
McCullough Learns from Time in Atlanta
8/16/2015 2:29:00 PM | Football
By: Sam Beishuizen | Twitter
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Deland McCullough reunited with Tevin Coleman in Atlanta during the summer break, but he wasn't there just to catch up with the former All-American.
McCullough was there to work.
The fifth-year running backs coach joined the Atlanta Falcons coaching staff as part of the Bill Walsh NFL Minority Coaching Fellowship. The internship—named after the Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach—aims to give talented minority college coaches the means and opportunities to coach NFL teams.
"It was a good deal, and I was very excited and very fortunate to have been able to do it," McCullough said. "It was a great learning experience not only for me but the players as well. It confirmed a lot of the things I've been doing."
McCullough spent a little less than a week coaching the Falcons running backs under head coach Dan Quinn's guidance. By total coincidence, the internship meant McCullough was coaching Coleman again as the former Hoosier adjusted to life in the NFL.
Atlanta marked McCullough's third coaching opportunity as a Bill Walsh intern. He had previously spent time with the New Orleans Saints and the Seattle Seahawks.
"It's pretty cool seeing your coach working with an NFL team," sophomore running back Devine Redding said. "It shows he's one of the best, and he brought back some stuff, too."
McCullough said one of the most rewarding parts of the trip was seeing how similar the professional camp was to the way Indiana runs its own practices.
He could spot the similarities in the way drills were run and found parallels in the terminology. At the same time, McCullough said the players and coaches were also impressed with the things he was doing differently.
As a former NFL running back himself, McCullough made it obvious to his new players that he knew his stuff.
"They even said, 'Hey man, you're on top of it. Your stuff is pretty tight," McCullough said. "But what I learned from those guys is just attention to detail and continuing to be demanding of your guys. Demanding perfection and making sure these guys not only know their assignments, but they own them."
McCullough relayed what he was learning back home to his own running backs in Bloomington each day.
While the coaching internship was first and foremost and opportunity for McCullough to grow as a coach, he said his players are the ones who get the most benefit because of how much they'll learn through the trip.
"I was texting my guys the whole time," McCullough said. "I was able to come back and tell the guys in our room that I feel even that much stronger about them. I said to them, 'There's not a guy in this room that couldn't be running there.' And I'm not talking about just one. There are several that could hang with those guys."
That's good news for the Hoosiers heading into the 2015 season where they'll look to replace the production of two graduated seniors.
"It just gives us that much more confidence," Redding said.
Before McCullough parted ways with Atlanta, he had one final debriefing with the Falcons running backs.
He thanked them for their time, and they did the same. McCullough said the trip was well worth it, and that the program gives elite coaches opportunities they wouldn't normally have.
As a case in point: Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, who won the Super Bowl with the Steelers in 2008-09, was at one time a Bill Walsh intern.
"When I left there, Devonta Freeman and all the other backs came up to me and said, 'Hey man, we're happy to have had you. You really know your stuff,'" McCullough said. "Meanwhile, Tevin was sitting in the back like, 'Yeah. I know he does.'"
