Hiring Ruffin McNeill at NC State was a ‘no-brainer’ for football coach Dave Doeren
Already back in his home state for family reasons, Ruffin McNeill is returning to the state’s college football circles.
On Tuesday, N.C. State announced that McNeill, the Lumberton native and former East Carolina University head coach, will be joining the staff as the special assistant to the head coach.
McNeill, 61, recently served as the assistant head coach at Oklahoma, where he coached defensive tackles and linebackers for three seasons. He was the defensive coordinator for most of the 2018 season.
In January, McNeill returned to North Carolina to help care for his elderly father. When McNeill arrived, one of the first phone calls he received was from N.C. State coach Dave Doeren.
“Dave didn’t call about a job, he just called to see if my dad was alright,” McNeill told members of the media during a Zoom call. “That’s just always how it’s been. But now it works out that I have a chance to come in and have a part and be an assistant to Dave and the coaches. I’m honored and looking forward to it.”
It’s sort of a reunion for Doeren and McNeill, who first met when Doeren was a graduate assistant at Southern California and McNeill coached at Fresno State.
During Doeren’s first three years at N.C. State, McNeill was the head coach at East Carolina. McNeill’s Pirates beat Doeren’s Wolfpack 42-28 at Carter-Finley Stadium during the 2013 season, Doeren’s first at N.C. State. The 2013 Pirates finished 10-3 overall and won the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl, McNeill’s only bowl win as head coach at ECU.
“I’ve known Ruffin since the beginning of my coaching career,” Doeren said. “Not only is he one of my closest friends in the profession, but he’s been a mentor to me since I was 24 years old. We’ve crossed paths on the recruiting trail many times over the past 22 years and have been friends and competitors. Having a former head coach on our staff who I can trust and have known for almost my entire career is a huge benefit for me personally, as well as for our entire program.”
With the Wolfpack, McNeill will serve as an advisor to Doeren as well as help with player development analysis. The veteran coach will also work with alumni and community groups on behalf of the program.
Which position group he will work with day-to-day has not been determined yet. For Doeren, it was nice to have someone in the building who has been a head coach before.
Doeren had that in the past when former Duke head coach Ted Roof was on the staff. Doeren spoke with Jerry Kill, who served as a special assistant to head coach Justin Fuente last season at Virginia Tech, and now has that same title at TCU under Gary Patterson.
After those talks, he said, filling that position was a “no-brainer” and it came down to finding the right guy. Doeren decided to add the position before he actually found out McNeill was available. But when it came time to fill the spot, bringing in a lifelong friend was an easy call.
“Dave and I have been very good friends and colleagues and I’ve followed his career over the past 20 years,” McNeill said in a press release. “I have the highest respect for him as a coach and cherish our long friendship. ... I’ve been in that chair and know the pressures that come along with it, so I hope to be a sounding board for him.”
He led his alma mater ECU to a 42-34 record from 2010-2015 and to four bowl games, pumping life back into the program and fan base. After going 5-7 in 2015, McNeill was fired, a move that was very unpopular in Greenville. The following season McNeill served as the assistant head coach and defensive line coach at Virginia, before reuniting with Lincoln Riley in Oklahoma.
Riley was the offensive coordinator at ECU under McNeill for five seasons. While at Oklahoma, the Sooners were one of the top programs in the nation, winning three Big 12 titles and appearing in the College Football Playoffs three times.
Ruffin led the Pirates to two wins over N.C. State while serving as the head coach. The Pirates won in Greenville, 33-27, in 2010 before also winning in Raleigh in 2013.
When McNeill left Oklahoma he made it clear that he wasn’t retiring from football and would get back into the business if the right opportunity presented itself. A chance to be close to his dad and work with Doeren, a coach he’s known for many years, was too good to turn down.
“It was the right opportunity with the right people,” McNeill said. “Being with Dave, like I mentioned, our friendship has been sincere and to have a chance to have him in-state was a double bonus.”
Even though a role hasn’t been defined yet, Doeren doesn’t downplay the importance of having someone like McNeill in the building every day.
“Every time I talk to him I smile,” Doeren said. “I think that was the one thing for me, the power of positivity and surrounding myself with people who generate that. I know Ruffin does that and there’s nothing that’s not genuine about him. I’m sure that’s what our staff needs, it’s what our players need.”
It was a position McNeill felt comfortable accepting.
“There’s trust and then there’s verification of trust,” McNeill said. “Dave and I have a verification of trust, which is a whole different thing. That was major for me and I know it was for Dave.”
This story was originally published July 7, 2020 at 10:31 AM.
