MIAMI -

Valley native Deland McCullough is in Miami getting ready for the game of a lifetime as the running backs coach of the Kansas City Chiefs.

On Wednesday, he opened up about the impact of his high school days in Campbell and what it's like having a Youngstown connection to their opponent—the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl.

 

Deland McCullough remembers his days under the Friday night lights at Campbell Memorial like it was yesterday. Deland graduated in 1991. 

 

"My days at Campbell, I mean, we had a championship mentality. Coach Ed Rozum did a phenomenal job of molding our team. The community supported us as players. It was a blue-collar town. We worked hard, and just the program itself, you know, was a program on the rise, and we just worked hard for everything we had, so it instilled a high work ethic in me, and I had to really work for everything I had," McCullough said.

 

He thinks back to being a backup defensive player and then a standout moment his senior year in 1990 during the second or third game of the season against Hubbard when he had over 200 yards.

 

"And that right there to me set the tone for what I was going to do the rest of that season through college and to the NFL that when I get an opportunity, I can do things on a high level."

 

His hard work ethic and seizing opportunities back then, lead him to today— as the running backs coach of the Super Bowl-bound Kansas City Chiefs, and ironically he's up against another team with Youngstown ties— the San Francisco 49ers.

 

"It's fun when you look at the ties there even Tevin Coleman, who was a big integral part of what they did this season as a running back, I coached him at Indiana. I know Coach Shanahan, I know the running backs coach over there very well, Bobby Turner. There's some subplots that make it very interesting too," he said.

 

Another subplot that put Deland in the spotlight on ESPN— his journey to find his biological parents. More than 40 years later, he learned his father was Sherman Smith— the Youngstown native who recruited him to Miami of Ohio.

 

"It's the ultimate blessing just kind of looking back on it and living it right now, just happy that everything comes full circle, and those guys get the opportunity to be part of what's going on here. Obviously, my dad has been in three Super Bowls as a running back coach, so you know I was able to take some information from him to be able to apply to what I'm doing right now."

 

As far as Deland's future— he has aspirations to become the head coach of a college or NFL team someday.