| Kris McCullough | |
| Current Title: | Head coach |
| Current Team: | UT Permian Basin |
| Current Conference: | LSC |
| Current Record: | 10–2 |
| Contract: | $172,500[1] |
| Birth Date: | 11 October 1995 |
| Birth Place: | Pine Bluff, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Alma Mater: | Henderson State University Arkansas State University |
| Coach Years1: | 2015–2016 |
| Coach Team1: | Henderson State (SA) |
| Coach Years2: | 2017 (spring) |
| Coach Team2: | Old Dominion (assistant QB/OQC) |
| Coach Years3: | 2017 |
| Coach Team3: | Fairmont State (assistant ST/RB) |
| Coach Years4: | 2018–2019 |
| Coach Team4: | East Central (ST/QB) |
| Coach Years5: | 2020 |
| Coach Team5: | East Central (OC/QB) |
| Coach Years6: | 2021 |
| Coach Team6: | East Central (AHC/OC/QB) |
| Coach Years7: | 2022 |
| Coach Team7: | East Central |
| Coach Years8: | 2023–present |
| Coach Team8: | UT Permian Basin |
| Overall Record: | 19–5 |
| Bowl Record: | 1–0 |
| Tournament Record: | 0–1 (NCAA D-II playoffs) |
| Championships: | LSC (2023) |
| Awards: | LSC Coach of the Year (2023) |
Kris McCullough (born October 11, 1995) is an American college football coach. He is the head football coach for the University of Texas Permian Basin, a position he has held since 2023. He was the head football coach for East Central University in 2022. He previously coached for Henderson State, Old Dominion, and Fairmont State.
McCullough was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, on October 11, 1995. He attended Watson Chapel High School where he played football and baseball. He received his bachelor's degree in integrated studies from Henderson State University before earning his master's degree in sports administration from Arkansas State University.[2]
McCullough started his coaching career as a student assistant coach for his alma mater, Henderson State University.[3] For two-and-a-half seasons from 2015 to the spring of 2017 he worked with the tight ends, running backs, wide receivers, and quarterbacks. With the team, he was a part of the 2015 Henderson State team that won their first-ever NCAA Division II playoff win after earning the Great American Conference (GAC) title along with coaching GAC Player of the Year, Jaquan Cole.[4] [5]
In the spring of 2017, McCullough joined Division I FBS Old Dominion as an assistant quarterbacks coach and as an offensive quality control coach, but departed prior to the start of the season.[6]
In the fall of 2017, McCullough joined Fairmont State University as the team's assistant special teams coordinator and running backs coach. Alongside those duties he was also the video coordinator.[7] [8]
In 2018, McCullough joined East Central University as the special teams coordinator and quarterbacks coach.[9] He held those positions until 2020 where he was promoted to offensive coordinator. In 2021 he added the title of assistant head coach. During his stint as offensive coordinator he helped lead the team to nine wins across the shortened 2020 COVID-19 season and 2021. In 2021, the team recorded a season-best, since 2015, 7–4 record.[10] [11]
On March 10, 2022, McCullough was named interim head coach after the previous head coach, Al Johnson, was hired by Wisconsin.[12] With his appointment to head coach he became the youngest head coach in all of college football at the age of 26.[13] Despite losing his first two career games as head coach, he then led the team to a six-game winning streak which including six-straight 30-plus point games and two 40-plus games, including a season-high 44 against Southern Nazarene.[14]
On October 27, 2022, the interim tag was removed and he was hired as the full-time head coach.[15] [16] He led the team to a 6–2 record up until that point before losing to Ouachita Baptist. He finished out his inaugural season going 3–0, beating Arkansas–Monticello, Southeastern Oklahoma State, and earned a bid to the Fun Town RV Heritage Bowl where they beat Texas A&M–Kingsville.[17] The team finished with a 9–3 record which was the team's best finish since 1993 when they ended 10–3 and won the NAIA Championship under Hank Walbrick.[18]
On December 23, 2022, McCullough announced that he was stepping down from his position.[19]
On December 22, 2022, less than two months after becoming full-time head coach for East Central, McCullough was hired by the University of Texas Permian Basin to be the team's second head coach all-time, replacing Justin Carrigan who left to take a role in the athletics department.[20] In McCullough's first game with the Falcons, he outscored NAIA opponent Texas College 96–0, a program record, and just four points away from the century mark.[21] The following week the team fell to non-conference opponent Western Colorado before once again scoring 80-plus and beating Southwest Baptist 86–7.[22] [23] [24] Following the loss to Western Colorado, the team went on a six-game winning streak.[25] They beat West Texas A&M; an upset against ranked Texas A&M–Kingsville[26] [27] —the same team he beat a year prior in a bowl game; Midwestern State; Eastern New Mexico; and the team's second upset win of the season beating ranked Angelo State.[28] The Falcons were ranked No. 25 in the D2 Football poll released on October 16, marking the first time in program history that the Falcons were ranked in a national poll.[29] A week later, on October 23, the Falcons would be ranked in the AFCA poll for the first time, debuting at No. 22.[30] Alongside their first AFCA poll ranking in program history they also broke the previous D2 Football poll by earning the No. 19 rank.[31] The Falcons would finish the regular season at 10–1, going 8–0 in conference play to win the LSC championship for the first time in program history.[32] The historic season would continue as UTPB was selected for the NCAA Division II playoffs for the first time in program history, hosting, and losing to, Bemidji State in the first round.[33] McCullough was named the 2023 LSC Coach of the Year.[34]
Following the season, McCullough was extended by the university through the 2026 season, along with incentives that can extend him until 2029. The new contract made him among the highest paid head football coaches in the Lone Star Conference.[35]