Payton McCollum joined the North Carolina Central University football coaching staff prior to the 2019 season as an assistant coach working with the wide receivers.
Prior to NCCU, McCollum spent the 2018 season as an analyst with the University of North Carolina football program, assisting the offensive coordinator and passing game coordinator with putting together the weekly passing and third down game plans. He also worked directly with the quarterbacks, assisting with coaching in meetings and at practice.
McCollum spent two seasons (2016-17) in the NFL as offensive coaching assistant with the Detroit Lions. He assisted head coach Jim Caldwell with day-to-day tasks, while working directly with the receivers coach in all facets of game preparation and coaching the wide outs. McCollum also assisted the offensive staff with film cut-ups, weekly film breakdown and the offensive playbook. In 2016, for the first time in franchise history and only the fifth time in NFL history, the Lions had five players each record 50-plus receptions, including receivers Golden Tate (91), Anquan Boldin (67) and Marvin Jones Jr. (55), as the Lions clinched a playoff berth that season. In 2017, the Lions were the only team in the NFL with two 1,000-yard receivers: Marvin Jones Jr. (1,101) and Golden Tate (1,003). Marvin Jones finished the season tied for 4th in the NFL in receiving touchdowns with 9.
Prior to Detroit, McCollum served as an offensive quality control coach at FCS Campbell University during the 2015 campaign, where he assisted with the development and coaching of the team’s quarterbacks and wide receivers. He was also tasked with recruiting the upstate region of South Carolina, and was responsible for all opponent film breakdown and creating the offensive playbook and scouting reports. In 2015, Campbell’s offense produced the first 1,000-yard running back in school history (DeShawn Jones).
McCollum has also been a volunteer assistant at Mount Tabor High School in 2013.
A native of Winston Salem, N.C., McCollum was a three-year letterman at Catawba College, where he graduated cum laude in 2013 with a degree in Economics and Finance. Prior to starting coaching career, he worked for BB&T as a commercial credit analyst.
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