It almost feels more like a promising sequel than a new chapter for the Notre Dame running backs room.
Roughly four days after Irish head football coach Marcus Freeman lost elite running backs coach Deland McCullough to the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders, Notre Dame is poised to replace him with similarly pedigreed 47-year-old Ja’Juan Seider from Penn State.
A source confirmed the imminent hiring to Inside ND Sports. ESPN’s Pete Thamel was first with the news that the Irish were targeting the Nittany Lions’ running backs coach, who also held the title there of assistant head coach since the middle of the 2023 season and co-offensive coordinator since 2022.
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The Belle Glade, Fla., product had been with head coach James Franklin at Penn State since 2018 after a one-year stint at Florida. He recruited and coached Penn State’s vaunted 1,000-yard rushing duo of Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton, among others.
“Notre Dame is not missing a beat by bringing in Seider,” longtime recruiting analyst Tom Lemming of the Prep Football Report said. “An excellent coach, and excellent recruiter. Marcus Freeman has done a really good job of replacing the great assistant coaches he has when he loses one.”
The Irish (14-2) faced that vaunted running attack during their College Football Playoff run, Jan. 9 in the CFP semis/Orange Bowl with ND prevailing, 27-24. Both Allen and Singleton elected to return rather than wade into the 2025 NFL Draft as early entries.
"Ja'Juan has been an excellent recruiter and talent developer wherever he's been — Penn State, West Virginia, Florida, Marshall." said Adam Friedman, Rivals analyst and ranking director. "And he did maybe his best job this past season with the way he used Kaytron Allen and Nicolas Singleton.
"Notre Dame is in really good hands here. And I think he'll bring a different element to the offense in terms of ideas on how best to use the running game. This is a really good hire and a good day for Notre Dame."
Seider was a backup quarterback at West Virginia in college for four years before transferring to Florida A&M for his final season of eligibility.
He ended up earning All-America honors in 1999 after throwing for 2,622 yards and 27 touchdowns that season, and rushing for 740 yards and 14 touchdowns. The MEAC Offensive Player of the Year was selected in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers.
Seider started his coaching career in the high school ranks, in Florida. His other coaching stops beyond Penn State and Florida include Marshall and West Virginia
He'll have a lot to look forward to in South Bend with the six backs to work with this spring, led by 1,000-yard rusher and junior-to-be Jeremiyah Love.
Under the 52-year-old McCullough, the Irish finished 19th this past season in rushing offense and seventh nationally in yards per rush in 2024 at 5.66. That’s the third-best mark in school history since Notre Dame began archiving that stat in 1939. And it was amassed against a schedule that included three of the top 10 rush defenses in the country, five of the top 17, and 11 of the top 50.
Love led the Irish with 1,125 yards and 17 TDs on 163 carries. His 6.9 yards per carry ranked sixth in the FBS in 2024.
Notre Dame earlier filled its defensive coordinator vacancy with Chris Ash, after Al Golden left for the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals. Its search to replace general manager Chad Bowden, who left for arch-rival USC, is ongoing.
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