3-Star RB Devin Darrington Developing Strong Relationship With IU
Devin Darrington said he’s developed a level of comfort around IU running backs coach Deland McCullough comparable to how feels around his own family.
The three-star running back with an Indiana offer out of Bel Air, Maryland, talks to or messages McCullough nearly every day. The conversation doesn’t get stale, Darringotn said, because they rarely only talk about football.
“He’s just like another relative to me that’s not a relative,” Darrington said. “He’s a great guy and talks about family and everything. He talks about how he’ll stay on your back and ride with you all the way through.”
McCoullough’s commitment to Darrington has made an impression on the 5-foot-9, 200-pound rusher with about 20 offers ranging from other Big Ten schools to the Ivy League.
“That’s what I think is really important in this recruiting process,” Darrington said. “A lot of guys can get recruited and their coach doesn’t stay in contact with them as much. But with coach McCullough, he just stays in contact and is a great guy to talk to. I love him.”
The bond between coach and athlete has kept the Hoosiers in the running for Darrington’s future commitment. He doesn’t have any timetable on making a decision but said he wants to make a visit to Indiana before giving out his pledge.
He said he’s researched Indiana’s football and academic programs over the last few months and is attracted to both. Darrington—who holds a 3.7 GPA and Ivy League offers from Columbia, Cornell, Darmouth, Harvard, Pennsylvania and Yale—said academics will ultimately hold the most weight in his decision.
“Academics are the most important in this,” he said. “After football, that degree is going to take you places.”
Football only continues to open doors for Darrington, who wants to be a certified financial planner after graduation. He said he likes the idea of being an entrepreneur and wants to prepare himself to have success in the business world after graduation.
Between his junior and senior years of high school, Darrington transferred from John Carroll School to Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland, mostly because of the football training. He said he went from working out a couple of days a week and doing most of the work on his own to training with teammates almost every day.
“I feel like it’s going to get me prepared for the next level,” Darrington said. “After talking about it with my family, we decided it would be the perfect decision for me to get better.”
Darrington’s recruitment will continue to be fluid over the next few months. He said he doesn’t have any favorites to land his commitment or a firm decision date.
For the time being, he's focused on becoming a better athlete so he can improve upon the 1,314 yards and 14 touchdowns he had en route to a league championship at John Carroll in 2015.
Before long, he said the right school will reveal itself.
“I’m just waiting on God’s plan,” Darrington said. “I’m going to take things slow, visit Indiana and see how it goes. If I like that school and have that feeling, I’m going to commit there just like any other school that has offered me.”