Overland Park (Kan.) Blue Valley North four-star athlete Dasan McCullough, one of the top prospects in the 2022 class, has a great mentor in his father and has learned a lot about the game of football from him.

McCullough’s dad, Deland McCullough, joined the Kansas City Chiefs as their new running backs coach in 2018 after spending the 2017 season as Southern Cal’s running backs coach/run game coordinator. Prior to USC, he spent six years at Indiana as the running backs coach.

Deland also played in the NFL for the Cincinnati Bengals and Philadelphia Eagles for two seasons (1996-97) after graduating from Miami (Ohio) in 1996 as the all-time leading rusher for the Redhawks and the Mid-American Conference.

“Oh it’s great,” Dasan said to The Clemson Insider when asked what it is like having a father with so much knowledge he can tap into. “I’ve learned so much from him, and just watching some NFL film with him gives me a big head start and I’m taking advantage of it.”

Dasan is drawing significant early interest from Clemson, and while the Tigers have not yet offered him, they view him as a versatile defender in the mold of Isaiah Simmons who could play safety, linebacker, defensive end and even some slot cornerback.

The 6-foot-4, 205-pound rising junior is very interested in Clemson as well.

“I love the program,” Dasan said. “It seems like a family there, and from my friends I have that go there, they’ve let me know how much of a good place Clemson is to be. As for the football part, I love how they use players like me, as in Isaiah, and how they don’t have him set at one position because they know he is a long athlete and that’s how I think of myself.”

Dasan said he grew up an Indiana fan when his dad coached there, then became a USC fan when his dad coached there.

Both of those schools are among the 40 programs that have offered Dasan to date, and his lengthy offer list also includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State and Texas among many others.

As it stands now, Dasan does not have a specific timeframe for when he will narrow down his recruitment.

“No exact date,” he said, “but sooner than later.”

Whenever the NCAA’s dead period comes to an end – right now, all in-person recruiting is suspended through at least June 30 — McCullough wants to make some college trips but doesn’t plan to travel too far away from home.

“Schools around my area so like Oklahoma, Texas, Ohio State,” he said of the schools he is looking to visit.

As far as Clemson is concerned, Dasan is high on the program and hopes to see an offer from the Tigers come his way moving forward.

“It would mean a lot to get an offer from Clemson,” he said. “I don’t have a (top schools) list yet but they would be up there, I know that.”

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