Deland McCullough flexes on recruiting trail while filling Oklahoma's 2027 hole

Deland McCullough quickly landed his first commitment as Oklahoma's new running backs coach to fill one of the few holes the Sooners still had in their 2027 recruiting class.

Rivals' Hayes Fawcett reported on Sunday that three-star running back Jakoby Dixon committed to the Sooners to replace Jaxsen Stokes, who flipped from OU to in-state Cal near the end of April. It took McCullough just barely over a month to fill that void, and even less time to convince Dixon he should be the one to do it.

Jakoby Dixon commits to Sooners in quick decision to replace Jaxsen Stokes

OU fans have yet to see the impact McCullough will have on the Sooners' running backs since replacing DeMarco Murray, who left for the same role with the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL, but this was a major flex for what he can accomplish on the recruiting trail. It will be even more impressive when he gets to choose his own guy from the get-go with a pool of prospects that wasn't already depleted with prior commitments.

This should be some relief for OU fans after there was immediate worry the Sooners' recruitment at the position would suffer without Murray, especially after top 2028 running back Micah Rhodes decommitted shortly after Murray left the staff.

The Sooners didn't offer Dixon until May 14, when McCullough made the trip to Brenham, Texas, to hand-deliver the offer himself. Less than 24 hours after that visit from McCullough, Dixon admitted to Rivals' Sam Spiegelman that the Sooners had already risen to the top of his list. Obviously OU remained at the top because now, just over two weeks after the recruitment even began, Dixon is already pledged to be a Sooner after his first trip to Oklahoma.

Dixon was in Norman over the weekend during the Sooners' ChampU BBQ recruiting event for his official visit. According to Rivals, that was the only official visit Dixon had on his schedule for this summer. He just took an unofficial visit to Oregon on May 10.

Read more: 4 more 2027 commitments that could come as soon as this weekend for Oklahoma

According to the 247Sports Composite, Dixon is the No. 51 running back in the 2027 class, but some recruiting experts anticipate Dixon to rise during his senior season at Brenham High School. He was lackluster as a junior after transferring to John Cooper School for a year, then going back to Brenham. As a sophomore in 2024, though, he rushed for an outstanding 2,248 yards and 32 touchdowns while also catching two receiving TDs. Another outing like that would send Dixon's stock skyrocketing.

His other offers included Oregon, Florida, Miami, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, SMU, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Vanderbilt and more.

Dixon joined fellow running back Keldrid Ben, who OU also landed before a recruitment explosion, in the Sooners' 2027 class. Ben, also from Texas, has been committed to OU since December as a top-5 running back in the class.

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