This viral take on Notre Dame is backfiring in Oklahoma's favor

A CBS Sports panel, including former Alabama running back Damien Harris and college football coach Brian Kelly, recently raved about the newfound recruiting pitch Notre Dame has after having two running backs go in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft. The take went viral on social media, but the glaring issue for the Fighting Irish is that, which Oklahoma fans pointed out, their secret weapon to make all that possible is now with the Sooners.

OU hired Deland McCullough as its new running backs coach over the offseason. McCullough spent last season with the Las Vegas Raiders, but before that for three years was at Notre Dame, where he coached Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, who were both just selected in the first round. Notre Dame got all the credit from talking heads, but the Sooners were quiet beneficiaries from the draft results.

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"If I'm a running back in this Transfer Portal era and NIL, why would I not want to go to Notre Dame?" Harris said. "You just had two running backs taken in the first round and you play one or two tough games a season. You're gonna play 10 more than likely that are against lesser opponents that don't have the talent that you do, so that's a favorable situation to get your 1,000 yards-plus. And guess what, we saw it last year, you don't even have to go to the College Football Playoff and you can still have two running backs drafted in the first round.

"Well done by those two young backs. Notre Dame might become a running back factory coming up here soon."

Kelly, who coached at Notre Dame in 2010-21, responded to Harris: "If (Notre Dame head coach) Marcus Freeman is not taping this right now, you could probably sell that."

Notre Dame will and should use this recruiting pitch, and it might even work against most other programs, but not OU.

There's no denying Harris' argument about Notre Dame's weak schedule making it easier for running backs to pad stats. However, as Harris should know after playing in the SEC, NFL franchises aren't wanting prospects who took the easiest path to the league. NFL teams want developed talented that's battle-tested. The Sooners can now give prospects both.

Read more: Oklahoma’s Deland McCullough proves developing NFL talent starts with him

McCullough recruited and developed both Love and Price for two years to mold them into the first-round picks they became. Price, as the No. 2 in the backfield, even rushed for more yards in 2024 under McCullough (746) than he did last season (674). Love averaged 6.9 yards a carry in both seasons while playing more games and against a tougher slate in 2024 during Notre Dame's run to the national championship game.

Now with McCullough on staff, the Sooners can boast that level of development, plus the chance for a running back to actually prime themselves for the NFL with an SEC schedule. So whatever recruiting pitch Notre Dame has for a running back, OU's is now better. That means if the 2026 NFL Draft is going to turn any program into a running back factory, it's going to be in Oklahoma, because McCullough, and OU fans, will make sure recruits know the whole story.

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