Ruffin Horne McNeill Jr. (born October 8, 1958) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and former player who currently serves as the special assistant to the head coach at

NC State University North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina s ...

. He previously served as the assistant head coach and outside linebackers coach at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

and the assistant head coach and defensive line coach at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

. McNeill also served as the head coach of the

East Carolina Pirates The East Carolina Pirates are the sport, athletic teams that represent East Carolina University (ECU), located in Greenville, North Carolina. All varsity-level sports teams participate at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA ...

from 2010 to 2015. Before being named head coach of the Pirates, McNeill served the

Texas Tech Red Raiders The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Lady Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Texas Tech University, located in Lubbock, Texas, United States. The women's basketball team uses the name Lady Raiders, while the school's other women's teams us ...

as an interim head coach, assistant head coach, special teams coordinator, and linebackers coach. On December 28, 2009, he was named interim head coach of the Red Raiders following the suspension and later firing of head coach Mike Leach. He served in the position until the hiring of

Tommy Tuberville Thomas Hawley Tuberville (; born September 18, 1954) is an American politician and retired college football coach who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from Alabama, a seat he has held since 2021. Before ...

, who subsequently released him as defensive coordinator.

Playing career

McNeill was a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

for the

for four years under then head coach

Pat Dye Patrick Fain Dye (November 6, 1939 – June 1, 2020) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at East Carolina University (1974–1979), the University of Wyoming (1980), ...

. For three of his years at ECU he was a starter, and for two he served as team captain. In his first year with the Pirates, McNeill helped East Carolina to the 1976

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...

Championship and a berth to the Independence Bowl two years later. McNeill graduated from East Carolina University in 1980.Player Bio: Ruffin McNeill
/ref> He later went on to Clemson where he earned a master's degree in counseling.

Coaching career

In addition to coaching at the high school level and spending a summer as an intern with the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

under Jimmy Johnson, McNeill has coached 23 seasons at the college level, including seven seasons at Appalachian State, his first job as defensive coordinator. In total, he has been on the coaching staffs at Clemson, Austin Peay State, North Alabama, Appalachian State,

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. ...

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...

, and

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

Texas Tech

McNeill began his tenure at

in 2000 as a linebackers coach. In 2003, he accepted the role of assistant head coach as well as taking duties of linebackers coach. In 2007, then-defensive coordinator

Lyle Setencich Lyle Setencich (born June 4, 1945) is an American former college football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Boise State University from 1983 to 1986 and California Polytechnic State University from 1987 to 1993, compiling ...

stepped down due to "personal reasons" after a 49–45 loss to

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

in which the Texas Tech defense allowed over 600 yards of total offense and three 100 yard rushers.Ruffin McNeill named Defensive Coordinator
/ref> Head coach Mike Leach named McNeill interim defensive coordinator shortly after with eight games remaining in the season. On December 28, 2009, Leach was suspended, and fired two days later, by Texas Tech University over the alleged inappropriate treatment of an injured player. McNeill was named interim head coach and led the team to a 41–31 victory over the

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 Varsity team, varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan Army, Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the sc ...

in the 2010 Alamo Bowl before being replaced as head coach by

. On January 13, 2010, McNeill was removed from the Texas Tech coaching staff by Tuberville and replaced with James Willis.

Defensive improvements

With McNeill at the defensive helm, the Red Raiders' defense improved in every defensive category. Under Setencich, Tech ranked seventh in pass defense, ninth in total defense, and tenth in scoring defense in

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

play. In nine games with McNeill, Tech improved to first in pass and total defense and fourth in scoring defense. The Red Raiders forced more punts and allowed fewer rushing and passing yards than they did to begin the season.Ruffin McNeill improved Tech defense, rewarded with D-coordinator position
/ref> These vast improvements in the defense led Leach to drop the interim tag and make McNeill the full-time defensive coordinator.

East Carolina

On January 21, 2010, it was announced that Ruffin McNeill would be named head football coach at his alma mater, East Carolina, replacing

Skip Holtz Louis Leo "Skip" Holtz Jr. (born March 12, 1964) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Birmingham Stallions of the United Football League (UFL). Holtz has led the team to two USFL Championships, in 2022 and 2023, and a UFL ...

, who had recently left for the head coaching job at the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...

. After seasons of 6-7 and 5-7, in 2012 East Carolina posted an 8-5 record which included an appearance in the New Orleans Bowl. In 2013, McNeill's Pirates posted the second-most wins in school history, going 10-3 including a win over

Ohio University Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...

in the 2013 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl. The season also included wins over in-state rivals

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

and

North Carolina State North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina sy ...

. In 2014, however, most felt the Pirates underachieved, marking an 8-5 record and losing 4 out of their last 6 games. On December 4, 2015, McNeill was relieved of his duties as head coach after finishing the season with a record of 5–7.

Oklahoma

McNeill was named the assistant head coach and defensive tackles coach at the

on June 14, 2017. He was named interim defensive coordinator on October 8, 2018, replacing the fired Mike Stoops. With the hiring of Alex Grinch as the defensive coordinator in January 2019, McNeill was retained on the OU staff as assistant head coach and outside linebackers coach. McNeill resigned from Oklahoma at the conclusion of the 2019 season.

NC State

McNeill was announced as the special assistant to head coach Dave Doeren at NC State on July 7, 2020.

Personal

McNeill and his wife, Erlene, have two daughters, Olivia and Renata, one grandchild Isabella and a brother Reggie. McNeill is a member of the

Omega Psi Phi Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African-American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was founded on November 17, 1911 at Howard University. Omega Psi Phi is a founding member of ...

fraternity.

Head coaching record

*Coached bowl game after Mike Leach was fired

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McNeill, Ruffin 1958 births Living people American football defensive backs Appalachian State Mountaineers football coaches Austin Peay Governors football coaches Clemson Tigers football coaches East Carolina Pirates football coaches East Carolina Pirates football players Fresno State Bulldogs football coaches North Alabama Lions football coaches Oklahoma Sooners football coaches Texas Tech Red Raiders football coaches Virginia Cavaliers football coaches UNLV Rebels football coaches Clemson University alumni African-American coaches of American football 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen