Indiana Connections at Notre Dame Force RB Commit Sedrick Irvin Jr. to Look Elsewhere

When running backs coach Deland McCullough left Indiana for the same job at Notre Dame, he was able to take prized recruit Gi'Bran Payne from Cincinnati along with him a few weeks later. That ripple effect has forced another top running back recruit — Sedrick Payne Jr., the son of former Michigan State legend Sedrick Payne Jr. — to decommit from the Irish and look for a new school.

Irvin, the No. 21-ranked running back in the class of 2023, plays for Columbus High School in Miami, Fla. His father Sedrick Sr. ran for 3,500-plus yards and 35 touchdowns at Michigan State in the late 1990s, and he's cousins with NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin. 

Irvin Jr. has multiple offers already — including Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Michigan State, Michigan, Stanford and Oregon — but they're also still unhappy with how things played out at Notre Dame.

Irvin's father talked with Sports Illustrated's John Garcia, and he's not at all happy with McCullough and new Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman.

“I got a text from the recruiting coordinator to tell me if I can talk to him and the running backs coach,” Irvin Sr. says. “I knew what it was already about. They got a new running backs coach [Deland McCullough], who didn’t recruit Sed when he was at Indiana. He had guys he was already recruiting and he also brought a kid that was committed to Indiana [Gi’Bran Payne] to Notre Dame. He got him to de-commit.

"When you do that, I already knew something was up."

• To read the complete Sports Illustrated story, CLICK HERE

McCullough spent just one season on Tom Allen's staff at Indiana as an associate head coach and running backs coach. He returned to Bloomington after coaching the Kansas City Chiefs running backs for three years, and it was a big deal when he returned. He also coached at Indiana from 2011 to 2016.

A nice perk of McCullough's return was that all three of his older sons committed to Indiana. In a sense, it was a homecoming for the McCullough family because his sons Deland Jr., Dasan and Daeh all grew up around the Indiana program. 

Deland Jr. started his college football career at Miami of Ohio, but he transferred to Indiana before the 2021 season. Dasan is the top-ranked recruit in Indiana football history, and at 6-foot-5, he has played defensive back, linebacker and defensive end throughout his high school career. Daeh, a four-star defensive back, played alongside Dasan at Bloomington South High School last season.

In one short year, McCullough helped the Hoosiers land their best recruiting class in school history, which included Payne, who is the No. 22 running back in the class of 2022, and he was the No. 1-ranked running back in the state of Ohio. 

But after a 2-10 season at Indiana, McCullough left Bloomington to coach running backs at Notre Dame. Deland Jr. and Dasan will play for the Hoosiers in 2022, but Daeh recently reopened his recruitment.