Ruffin McNeill said hello to East Carolina University Friday. Again.
McNeill, in fact, formally began his third tour of duty at the university, this time as ECU’s 20th head football coach. Now that he‘s back, the ECU alum and former Pirate player said he’s here for the long haul. Click here for more photos.
“This is my destination job,” the 51-year-old McNeill, a Lumberton native, told a packed Harvey Hall. “This is not a stepping stone hop for Ruff. This is where I want to be until you all tote me away from here. You’d have to drag me away.”
McNeill promised to maintain a high academic standard and vowed to love each of his players in what is his first head coaching job, but he also vowed to uphold the winning standard of the repeat Conference USA champion Pirates.
To that end, McNeill confirmed he’s not only bringing 26-year-old Lincoln Riley (former Texas Tech wide receivers coach) on board to be his offensive coordinator, but that he’ll be bringing the same offense that was employed at Texas Tech during his 10-year stint with the Red Raiders prior to coming to Greenville.
McNeill also promised to try to hang on to all of ECU’s committed recruits as the Feb. 3 national signing day approaches, and said he was poised to hit the recruiting road immediately.
For at least an hour Friday, however, it was more of a welcome back party than a press conference, as even some of McNeill’s former ECU teammates were on hand to congratulate the new head coach.
“It’s a dream come true for an East Carolina boy,” McNeill said, adding that his wife, brother, sister-in-law and brother-in-law all attended ECU. “This is my alma mater. I have a lot of ties to Greenville, East Carolina and this university.”
From a football focal point, McNeill admits it won’t be easy.
The Pirates, who last week learned of the departure of five-year coach Skip Holtz for South Florida, lose 28 seniors from their 2009 squad, including quarterback Patrick Pinkney and the entire defensive front seven.
McNeill met with the current players Thursday night.
“This is a fun challenge,” said McNeill, who was given a five-year $5 million contract. “There is nothing intimidating or hard about this at all. Those kids that we met last night, I got the chance to love them up, hug them up, but we also set some standards and some expectations as a group.”
ECU athletic director Terry Holland made the hire exactly one week after Holtz, who guided the Pirates to four straight bowl games, announced he was leaving ECU for USF.
Middle Tennessee State head coach Rick Stockstill declined interest in the position earlier this week before Ruffin emerged from a final group of the three candidates who were interviewed later in the week.
ECU offensive line coach Steve Shankweiler was believed to also be a front-runner for the job, and Oklahoma offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson interviewed with Holland on Wednesday night.
But Holland admitted it was Ruffin’s interview on Thursday which made the decision an easy one.
“It’s been a tough week on me, but I’ve never been so proud of this university or of this man,” an emotional Holland said. “It is a very special day in the history of this university.”
McNeill spent 10 years in Lubbock, Texas, with TTU, being hired in 2000 as linebackers coach before ultimately parlaying his way into the role of defensive coordinator.
When head coach Mike Leach was fired in late December, McNeill was named interim head coach, guiding the Red Raiders to a win over Michigan State in the Alamo Bowl. To that point, it was his lone game as a head coach.
Before Texas Tech, McNeill made coaching stops at Fresno State, UNLV, Appalachian State, ECU, North Alabama, Austin Peay and Clemson.
The new coach said he plans to quickly piece together the remainder of his staff over the coming days.
“The moment the wheels hit the tarmac, both of our hearts just said, ‘We’re home,’” McNeill said of the moment he and his wife landed in Raleigh to begin the interviewing process with ECU. “That was very cool.”
