Kris McCullough will lead the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs football program. McCullough went 28-10 in three seasons at UT Permian Basin.
McCullough began his coaching career as a student assistant in 2015 and 2016 at Henderson State. In 2017, he started the year at Old Dominion as an assistant quarterback and offensive quality control coach, but ended up as the assistant special teams and running backs coach in the fall for Fairmont State.
In 2018, he moved to East Central University in Oklahoma as the special teams and quarterback coach. In 2020, he was promoted to the offensive coordinator. The following year, he was named an assistant head coach. In 2022, he took over the head coaching duties, going 9-3 in his lone season. The Tigers finished tied for third in the NCAA Division II Great American Conference and won the Heritage Bowl 38-21 over Texas A&M-Kingsville.
McCullough was hired to be the head coach at NCAA Division II UT Permian Basin for the 2023 season. The Falcons won the Lone Star Conference in McCullough’s first season, which was the school’s first D-II playoff appearance. UTPB lost in the first round to Bemidji State. After going 7-5 and losing the Heritage Bowl in 2024, the Falcons came soaring back in 2025. UTPB finished tied for second in the Lone Star, won the first two D-II playoff games in school history, and reached the quarterfinals. The Falcons lost a close game against eventual runners-up Harding, 34-28.
In four seasons as head coach, McCullough went 37-13 overall and 29-8 in conference games. He captured one conference title and reached the D-II playoffs twice, while making bowl appearances in the other two seasons. McCullough will take over a Gardner-Webb program that has undergone several head coaching changes in the last few years. Tre Lamb led the program from 2020 through 2023, going 20-20 overall with two FCS playoff appearances. Cris Reisert took over in 2024 for two years, going 11-13 overall, and he recently departed for Toledo.
Photo Credit to the University of Texas Permian Basin
