Skip to main content
nc-state logo

Ruffin McNeill discusses his return to East Carolina

On3 imageby:Ethan McDowell•08/28/22•

ethanmmcdowell

On3 image
M. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Ruffin McNeill is always on the sidelines early on game days. NC State’s special assistant to the head coach waits to greet each athlete before kickoff, offering words of encouragement and hugs to the Wolfpack. 

When McNeill walks into Dowdy-Ficklen stadium next weekend, he knows it will be a truly unique experience from the rest of his more-than-four decades of coaching. 

Subscribe to The Wolfpacker today for a limited-time $1 deal for a year of premium access

McNeill played at East Carolina from 1976-80 and returned as a head coach from 2010-2015, winning 42 games and taking the Pirates to four bowl games. The athletic department fired him after the 2015 season and, while that hurt, the coach claims no ill will towards his alma mater. 

“That part was tough,” McNeill said. “I made a lot of friends and family, so it was tough. I mean, I’m only human with that, but never any negative words from my part.

“Things happen in this business. I’ve been in it a long time.”

Heading into his third season with NC State, McNeill returns to the stadium he built so many memories in over those years.  

“The emotion will be different,” McNeill said. “I have played on that turf and also coached on that turf, so I’m sure there will be some emotional feelings there. I was 17 years old the first time I played on that thing.”

McNeill enters unprecedented territory Sept. 3, coaching against the team he suited up for and led to national notoriety as a coach.

He still plans on being out on the field before the game next Saturday.

“I don’t know how it’ll be exactly,” McNeill said. “The boys here are used to me coming out early, so if I’m not out early, the boys here, they’ll wonder what’s happening. So I’ve got to make sure I’m in the spot so they can see me, and I can give them a hug and a word of encouragement here.”

During practices and games, the legendary coach watches the Wolfpack from the sidelines and offers feedback to head coach and close friend Dave Doeren. The two met more than 20 years ago when Doeren was working at USC as a graduate assistant and McNeill was coaching the defensive line at Fresno State. 

They built a genuinely strong bond after that year on the West Coast. McNeill said he considers Doeren and his family part of his own.

“There’s a love, and a friendship, and a mentorship, all of those combined in one,” McNeill said. 

Even when the two were coaching against each other for bitter in-state rivals, they still talked and maintained that friendship. Whenever McNeill encountered hardship in his career, Doeren was always one of the first to reach out. 

“During some challenging times in my career, the first phone call I got was from Dave,” McNeill said. “I mean, you can’t make that up.”

McNeill, Doeren and the rest of the Wolfpack can see the extremely high expectations surrounding the program this fall. From coaching ECU into the AP top-25, to helping Oklahoma reach three-consecutive College Football Playoffs, McNeil knows how to manage and address hype. 

“The expectations are great to have, I think,” McNeill said. “I’ve been a part of teams where no expectation was there and teams in my coaching career that had expectations.

“I like the latter.”

He added that NC State is approaching things the right way headed into its first game week of 2022.

“What comes with that is knowing how to handle it,” McNeil said. “And these guys understand preparation is key. They understand daily focus is key.”

You may also like