Eric Gay - AP
Texas Tech interim coach Ruffin McNeill, center, celebrates with his players following their win in the Alamo Bowl against Michigan State in San Antonio on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2010. McNeill has been named the new football coach at East Carolina.
GREENVILLE -- East Carolina has named Ruffin McNeill, who worked as Texas Techs interim coach in the teams recent bowl victory, as head football coach, athletics director Terry Holland announced Thursday.
McNeill, a 51-year-old Lumberton native and former ECU defensive back, replaces Skip Holtz, who resigned Jan. 13 to become head coach at South Florida after leading the Pirates to four bowl games and two Conference USA championships in five seasons.
The Executive Committee of the ECU Board of Trustees, acting for the full board, approved the appointment Thursday evening. The board will consider McNeills contract at a regular meeting next month.
Coach McNeill's interview revealed his strong commitment to doing things the right way and his love of coaching young men to grow in every part of their lives. Holland said in a statement released Thursday night. His excitement for what ECU Football can become in the future was contagious and his deep and abiding appreciation for what East Carolina University has meant to him and his family was truly moving.
McNeill took over as interim coach when Texas Tech fired head coach Mike Leach for allegedly mistreating a player. The Red Raiders eventually selected former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville as the permanent head coach and McNeill was dismissed from the staff.
Since playing for the Pirates in the late 70s, McNeill has worked as a defensive aide at nine schools, including ECU in 1992, Clemson for two seasons in the mid 80s and Appalachian State in the mid 90s. He went to Texas Tech in 2000 and was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2007.
The school plans a press conference Friday afternoon.
