SOUTH CUT — Like Notre Dame football settles in three new defensive coaching positions, survivors can take inspiration from the example of the former Irish All-America running back Jeremy Love.
Quickly climbing the draft boards ahead of this week’s NFL Scouting Combine, Love believes he benefited greatly from the teaching of two position coaches, Deland McCullough and Ja’Juan Seider, during his three-year college career.
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“It was the best thing that could have happened to me, having two different coaching jobs,” Love said in December before his third-place finish in the Heisman Trophy ceremony. “Initially, I worked for two years with coach Deland. From him, I learned a lot. I learned to be a D3: thorough, reliable and disciplined.”
McCullough, who recruited Love out of Christian Brothers College High School in St. Louis, recently returned to the college game at Oklahoma after spending 2025 with the Las Vegas Raiders.
“Details are the most important thing in football,” Love said. “You have to be detailed. You have to be where you need to be at the right time. I learned that from Coach D.”
Seider, hired last February after seven years at Penn State, added his contribution to Love’s overall understanding of the nuances of the game. Alongside Jadarian Price, also a potential early-round pick in late April, Love led the most devastating backfield combination in the sport last fall.
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“Thanks to Coach Seider, I learned more about football as a whole,” Love said. “I learned how to learn about defenses, how to understand the game from a quarterback’s perspective, because Coach Seider played quarterback (at West Virginia and Florida A&M).
“He brought that perspective into the running back room. I feel like we’ve come full circle with those two guys in understanding their teachings, and I’m a better player because of it.”
Seider’s previous duo at Penn State, Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, could also be drafted by the end of day two.
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New voices bring new perspectives
The introduction of alternate coaching prospects will be a major offseason story for the Irish defense.
Co-defensive coordinator Aaron Henry was hired at Illinois to replace defensive backs coach Mike Mickens after he left for the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens.
Former Michigan linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary will follow Max Bullough after he returns to his alma mater, Michigan State, as co-DC.
And former Indianapolis Colts defensive line coach Charlie Partridge, hired in early January, replaces Al Washington after four seasons in South Bend. Washington first became a linebackers coach, but has since moved to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.
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“I know (in) the NFL, every team is different,” Oregon transfer defensive tackle Tionne Gray said. “Coming to a new scheme, coming to a new defense, I’m going to understand that and learn it, so when I get to the NFL, I’ll have more experience on two different defenses.”
Gray also considered following former Ducks defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi to California, where he was named head coach in December, with openings from Clemson and Missouri.
Defensive backs Jayden Sanders and DJ McKinney, formerly of Michigan and Colorado, signed with the Irish in part to work with Mickens, who had been on staff since 2020.
Instead, they must adapt to the teachings of Henry, a former Wisconsin defensive back who spent time at Arkansas, Rutgers, NC State and Vanderbilt before his five-year stint at Urbana-Champaign.
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“I wouldn’t say it’s disappointing,” said Sanders, a Texan who started two games and appeared in 11 others as a freshman. “I’m just building a relationship with Coach Henry. He’s just a new coach and I see what he wants.”
Henry “is a great guy,” Sanders said, but such turnover “isn’t really something I can control.”
The ex-Wolverine noted that adjusting to a new coaching position, for better or worse, “happens every day in college football.”
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article was originally published on South Bend Tribune: How Notre Dame football could benefit from new coaching voices
