Quick Hitters: What Deland McCullough said about grading Notre Dame RBs
Notre Dame running backs coach Deland McCullough spoke to reporters after Wednesday’s practice. Topics included his system for grading his players, what makes junior running back Gi’Bran Payne a good short-yardage back, freshman RB Kedren Young and more.
Here’s what McCullough had to say.
On his system of grading Notre Dame running backs
“There’s nothing revolutionary about it. I’m grading their alignments, their footwork, all of the small details of what they do. The new guys are the ones whose heads are blown. They’re like, ‘Dang, Coach, really? Really? My foot was —’ Yes. Your foot was — ‘I’m like a half inch too far?’ Yeah, you’re a half inch too far over. On my control jab step, it needs to be slower so I can get in the hip of the puller and getting in phase with him. ‘Well, in high school, I used to just jab and run.’ You don’t do that there. Then you show them the tape of here’s why you don’t. You were too fast. You hit the hole too quick. The timing is messed up. That’s a lost opportunity. So these guys understand it’s a big picture here. On this level you don’t have a lot of opportunities to make up for what happened three plays ago. You got to hit it when it’s there. Because that’s the type of environment we’re in and that’s the standard that we have for our running backs here.”
On if he has examples where someone lined up a half-inch off and it made a big difference
“Yes. 100%. Two days ago we were watching tape of a guy who read it a certain way. It wasn’t an argument. He said, ‘Well, why did I do this that or do that?’ I said, ‘Just keep watching.’ Three plays later, he’s like ‘Oh, I get it now.’ Everything has rhyme or reason to it. It all comes together. The guys say, ‘I guess that’s why you are where you are.’ That’s why you chose to come here, because of that detail that’s going to take you to the next level. Audric [Estimé] talks about it with his preparation for the NFL. I was talking to him last week or two weeks ago, whatever it was. I said, ‘Audric, is there anything during your interviews that you weren’t ready for? Let me know so I can prepare the next guys.’ It ain’t like I haven’t been in the NFL. It ain’t like it was 20 years ago. He said, ‘Coach, I was overprepared. There wasn’t one thing that came up that I wasn’t prepared for. Actually, I was kind of overprepared. I had so many more bullets in the chamber as far as knowledge is concerned.’ I’m here to give them my best shot, and that’s what I’m going to give him.”
On Notre Dame junior RB Jadarian Price’s workload in 2023
“Well, under me, what’s a lead back? What’s a lead back? All the guys continue to play. Far as I’m concerned, what we did with Jadarian last year was 100% on plan. It was we did not have to stress him. He was coming off an Achilles. There was no need in our room to say, ‘Look, we gotta load this guy up.” All I wanted him to do was bring him along the right way, put him in position to be successful for himself and for us to feel confident in his long-term development but then not overstressing his Achilles. We didn’t need to.”
On if Notre Dame was conscious of Price’s workload throughout last season post-injury
“100%.”
On what makes Price and sophomore RB Jeremiyah Love different
“Jeremiyah is more like a perimeter receiver type guy. Jeremiyah could probably — I’m not going to say probably. He could play receiver on a supremely high level. JD, I won’t say he’s a more traditional back. He’s got more running back nuance to him. He is really good catching the ball. He can run routes. The big difference between them: Jeremiyah is really twitchy That type right there. Although JD has that type of ability too. Jeremiyah might have a step on him as far as that’s concerned. More of the perimeter, in space, running routes is where Jeremiyah is really, really elite.”
On what makes junior RB Gi’Bran Payne a good short-yardage back for Notre Dame
“I’m going to tell you what, Gi’Bran is like the silent assassin of the whole thing. Gi’Bran, his vertical went from a 32 [inches] to a 37. It shows. The guy’s a more explosive player, then Gi’Bran doesn’t make mistakes. Gi’Bran maximizes. Gi’Bran is football smart, situational master, all these things. He’s bringing his lunch bucket to the table every day. He’s kind of the lead guy as far as details and handling his stuff with that. Physically, he’s got more than what people think. As we continue to move forward, you’ll see more of that from him. Short-yardage-wise, he’s got a low center of gravity, he’s got pad level, he knows how to get skinny in between there, different things like that. The same things he brings to the table as a short-yardage back as far as leverage, he brings to the table as a pass protector.”
On freshman RB Kedren Young, who is dealing with a hamstring injury
“Kedren was doing well through the OTAs and different things like that. Got chipped up a little bit. But look at the dude. He’s a big ol’ looking guy. Before he got chipped up, he was moving around really, really well. He’ll be back soon. Excited for his development. What he’s learning now is when you’re injured you still have to be mentally engaged. I call to keep telling him, ‘You better answer these questions.’ I said, ‘JD was out for the season two years ago.’ He was required to answer every questions. You’re out for a short period of time. You’re coming back. You can’t say, ‘Well, I’ll be back next year.’ No, you’re going to be back in a minute. Let’s stay tight.”
