Morgan State linebacker Ahmad McCullough is in his seventh year of college football at the Division I level.
McCullough’s road has been full of adversity. He was lightly recruited out of high school. He has transferred multiple times and dealt with injuries. But he has also enjoyed his triumphs, completing a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s in technology entrepreneurship and corporate innovation at Maryland prior to moving on from College Park.
Now back home in Baltimore after a stint at Washington State, McCullough believes he is right where he needs to be. The 6-foot-2, 230-pound linebacker racked up 21 tackles through Morgan State’s first six games of the season.
“It feels good,” McCullough said. “I feel like I’m myself again, man. Just being away, sometimes it makes you appreciate where you came from because a lot of people don’t know I was born and raised in Baltimore. … This is home for me. [It’s] just normal. It brought back that love of the game for me again that I felt like was slipping. It helped a lot mentally, spiritually, emotionally and everything.”
McCullough did not immediately begin his Division I journey after graduating from Mount Saint Joseph in 2017. He was just 190 pounds at the time, not ideal for an outside linebacker at the college level. As such, he was passed over in the recruiting process.
McCullough decided to enroll at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas. The program has produced the likes of New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Cordarrelle Patterson, San Francisco 49ers linebacker De’Vondre Campbell and former Maryland quarterback Shaun Hill.
McCullough attacked the gym like his career depended on it, putting on more than 15 pounds. He never saw the field because he got hurt before the 2017 season began. However, McCullough earned the attention of high-level college programs, committing to Minnesota prior to signing with Maryland.
Former Maryland head coach DJ Durkin recruited McCullough but was fired in October 2018 following the death of offensive lineman Jordan McNair, who fell ill with heatstroke during an offseason workout.
“There were a lot of things that were going around,” McCullough said. “We didn’t know that we were going to have our coach anymore that season. … The coach that recruited me wasn’t there anymore. I was trying to fit in. There were a lot of moving parts. It was a new interim head coach that I had never met at the time until then.”
McCullough found a way to lock in, learning from the older players to figure out what worked for them. Whether it was getting in the gym, putting in the effort to understand plays or noticing how the veterans carried themselves, McCullough wasn’t far behind. He redshirted in 2018.
Current Maryland head coach Michael Locksley stepped in following the 2018 season. McCullough was excited, as Locksley was a D.C. native, played at Towson State and had coached at Maryland in the past. Staying at Maryland also offered McCullough a chance to represent his home state.
McCullough played in one game in 2019 before suffering a season-ending injury, then became a regular contributor on defense beginning with the COVID-shortened 2020 season. He tallied 89 tackles (53 solo), 5.5 tackles for loss, one sack and two fumble recoveries for the Terps from 2018-2022, leaving with two years of eligibility.
That led to stops at Washington State and Morgan State.
“It was fun watching him do his thing and live out his dreams of what he wanted to accomplish,” former Mount Saint Joseph head coach Rich Holzer said. “I know he’s still out there chasing it. I hope he has a great year this year and if he wants to take a shot at playing at the next level, hopefully he gets it. I think he’s talented enough.”
McCullough nearly gave up on football ahead of Holzer’s arrival at Mount Saint Joseph. Holzer brought an immediate philosophical shift, according to McCullough, who described a more lighthearted approach to the game that counted on players to hold themselves accountable.
“I got along with him great. He was a really great kid,” Holzer said. “You could tell he’s super motivated and he wanted to achieve. Those types of kids when I see them, I know that I don’t have to be on top of them as much because they’re self-motivated and I can kind of give them some autonomy to figure things out on their own and be adults.”
Transferring to Morgan State allowed McCullough to come full circle. Two Bears teammates are 2021 graduates of Mount Saint Joseph — wide receivers Andre Crawley and Tyler Wilkins. While McCullough never went to high school with the duo, the veteran has helped out the former Gaels this season.
“Just having somebody, especially those two guys on the field and in the locker room, that was a good thing to have,” Crawley said. “When I texted Tyler when we both committed, I said, ‘Let’s change the program’ because we knew how the program had [struggled] over the years and we want to come be a part of changing the culture. We came from a program that won a lot and we’re trying to put that here. But I think this year should be pretty big.”
Photo Credit: Chris Thompkins
Issue 289: October/November 2024
Originally published Oct. 16, 2024