View from the East Thursday, February 7, 2013 By Al Myatt

Fax machine yields Ruff's best so far

By Al Myatt
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Although East Carolina football coach Ruffin McNeill said he doesn't run the program like a CEO, he looked the part at his signing day news conference on Wednesday afternoon.

McNeill stepped to the podium in the defensive meeting room in a dark suit and purple power tie to talk about what the fax machine in the football offices on the second floor at the Ward Sports Medicine Building had cranked out during the day.

With the fulfillment of a new father emerging from a waiting room, McNeill discussed his newly-added sons in the Pirate football family who had forwarded their letters of intent.

"I'm their No. 2 daddy and the rest of the coaching staff are their uncles," said the former ECU strong safety, who looks to be getting closer and closer to his playing weight.

As McNeill has dropped the pounds with weight loss surgery, a strict diet and regular exercise, there appears to have been an inverse relationship with the quality of his recruiting classes.

In 2010, an overweight McNeill had hit the recruiting trail like a relay runner trying to make up ground for a dropped baton. He succeeded in keeping most of a class that Skip Holtz's staff had put together and he subsequently got quarterback Dominique Davis to sign aboard the Pirate ship.

The last two classes have been about addressing a lot of immediate needs, particularly on the defensive side, and ECU has been junior college friendly.

The 2013 signing class is more like what McNeill meant at the outset when he said he didn't want to microwave the program.

There are only two jucos and both look solid. There are more in-state signees than either N.C. State and North Carolina announced on Wednesday. Five of those 11 are from east of I-95. That's how the Pirates were doing it when McNeill cast his lot with Coach Pat Dye in 1976.

ECU has eight starters back on offense and seven returning on defense from an 8-5 team, the best record in the McNeill era. There will be expectations for a strong showing in the Pirates' last voyage in Conference USA.

Then it's on to the Big East, which has already become a selling point for McNeill and crew.

"The Big East, I thought and felt, was a big advantage going into the homes with the parents," McNeill said. "That was one of the advantages because some of the parents were interested in that. ... Having a vision of where we'll be headed as a group and as an athletic program really caught the eye of a lot of parents in the homes I went into."

Recruiting entire families is a McNeill emphasis. The wisdom in that philosophy was shown in the case of Arkansas recruit Alex Collins. His mother confiscated his letter of intent on Wednesday because she wanted him to sign with Miami.

Relationships are the cornerstone of the recruiting approach that McNeill has developed over his 28 years as a coach on the college level. The Pirates have been building relationships with the incoming class for several years in some cases.

"The relationships you establish is really key in the recruiting process," he said.

McNeill likes to get potential players on campus to experience the impressive game day atmosphere and welcomes them to camps for evaluation. Relationships with high school coaches are an ongoing process headed up by Harold Robinson.

The Pirates can sell prospects on the university itself and life beyond college, even on the playing field as personified by fullback Vonta Leach of the Baltimore Ravens, who recently became the 14th ECU player to earn a Super Bowl ring.

Each of the incoming players will be paired up with a big brother, a former Pirate player who will assist in their adjustment to college life and the college game.

It's part of the family approach that appeals to so many recruits.

McNeill was pleased with the overall operation that generated the focus in the football offices on Wednesday.

"Having 19 guys watch the fax machine is a little weird," he conceded.

While everyone in the football office works together to bring the best fresh blood into the program, there can be unforeseen obstacles. McNeill acknowledged that luck is an element in the process.

Bill Dooley lost a recruit to Clemson because there wasn't an ice cream machine in the training line at North Carolina. Dooley made sure he had an ice cream machine when he subsequently coached at Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.

"There are always battles," McNeill said. "You win some and you lose some. I like the ones we won today."

McNeill's approach to the game starts up front and the newcomers include defensive linemen Randall Anderson, Malcolm Ashley, Demage Bailey, Demetri McGill and Mike Myers. Offensive linemen include Christian Matau, Brandon Smith, Marquis Wallace and Larry Williams.

Linebacker Devaris Brunson is among the highest regarded of the Pirates' haul by recruiting services. Kirk Donaldson, Patrick Green and Tristan Mumford also have been added to the linebacking corps.

The secondary is the most pressing area in terms of immediate need. DaShawn Benton was part of a late commitment surge and is projected as a corner. A.J. Coplon of Havelock is one of the regional signees. McNeill said prized recruit Lucas Thompson, who initially chose ECU last year, should be enrolled for the first semester of summer school. Travis Phillips, Travon Simmons and Xavier Smith also represent potential assistance in the secondary.

ECU's offense depends on capable receivers and the signees there include Trevon Brown, Davon Grayson and Isaiah Jones. The Pirates also signed tight end Darren Dowdell, a teammate of Benton's who was coveted by some high level programs.

Terrell Lane is the lone running back. He comes from Hutchinson Community College in Kansas with good size and numbers.

ECU signed one quarterback, Kurt Benkert, who is already on campus. Anderson, Benkert, Mumford and Brandon Smith are already involved in offseason sessions with strength and conditioning guru Jeff Connors.

Former Pirates coach Steve Logan always deferred his assessment of a signing class and time will certainly tell the extent of the contributions to be wrought from Wednesday's faxes.

Four, often five years, can produce unforeseen circumstances in a player's development. Leach moved from linebacker to fullback during his college career.

Pirates defensive line coach Marc Yellock noted that rising junior nose tackle Terry Williams came to ECU as a linebacker. That was before Williams got a summer job at Zaxby's and gained 60 pounds.

"Now he's playing with his hand on the ground," Yellock said.

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PAGE UPDATED 02/08/13 02:46 AM.