ODESSA, Texas —
University of Texas Permian Basin Vice President for Athletics Todd Dooley announced Thursday that Kris McCullough will take over as head coach of the Falcons’ football team.
The news comes almost a month after the university announced former head coach Justin Carrigan would be transitioning into the role of Deputy Athletic Director.
McCullough previously held a head coaching position for one year at East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma. He led ECU to a 9-3 record in the Great American Conference.
His accolades for the 2022 season include being the only Division II coach named to the American Football Coaches Association 35 Under 35 Coaches Leadership Institute. That list included other college coaches from Michigan, Texas, Auburn and Tennessee, as well as the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks.
"What Kris has done in a short amount of time in charge of a football program is quite remarkable," said Dooley. "Throughout the entire search process Kris' charisma and vision stood out in a very competitive group of candidates. He checks all the boxes in what we are looking for in our pursuit of comprehensive excellence."
McCollough looked back on his time at ECU, which started as a special teams and quarterbacks coach in 2018, fondly. He also expressed his excitement to join the UTPB family.
"First, I'd like to thank everyone at East Central," said McCullough. "I enjoyed every second spent in Ada and at East Central and want to thank them for believing in me and giving me a chance to be a head coach. We made history at that school in many ways, and no one can take that away from the student-athletes and coaches. I'm so excited for this opportunity! My wife Hannah and I can't wait to arrive in the Permian Basin to get started and meet all the great folks in West Texas as we level up UTPB Football. Falcons Up!"
McCullough also spent time as a running backs coach and assistant special teams coordinator at Fairmont State from 2017 to 2018, as an offensive quality control analyst and assistant quarterbacks coach at Old Dominion in the spring and summer of 2017 and as a student assistant working all over the offensive side for three seasons at his alma mater, Henderson State.