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Right time, right place, right man

By Brett Friedlander
©2014 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.

Ruffin McNeill is a humble man clearly uncomfortable when talking about his feelings, especially as they pertain to his East Carolina football team. So it should come as no surprise that even after the most emotional victory of his five-year tenure with the Pirates, McNeill tried his best to downplay the significance of Saturday’s 70-41 dismantling of rival North Carolina.

His actions, however, spoke far louder than his words.

Instead of sprinting off the field immediately following his postgame radio interview as most coaches would have done, the former ECU defensive back made the moment last as long as possible.

He feigned an imaginary golf swing, then took turns pointing toward his chest and the festive crowd celebrating in the Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium stands during a triumphant stroll down the near sideline. As he reached the mouth of the tunnel leading into his team’s locker room, he stopped, looked up toward the Murphy Center balcony and with a tear in his eyes, cupped his hands in the shape of a heart in the direction of his wife Erlene and a large contingent of family members.

Make no mistake about it. While there are still more important games to play and an American Athletic Conference championship to pursue, Saturday’s victory was more than just another win for McNeill.

And not just because the blowout of epic proportions marked the first time ever that ECU has won back-to-back games against the dreaded Tar Heels.

For a college football lifer who didn’t get his first head coaching opportunity until his 50th birthday – at possibly the only school in the country that would give him a shot at such a late stage in the game – Saturday’s win was nothing short of sweet validation.

Validation for himself, for former athletic director Terry Holland for hiring him and for current AD Jeff Compher for rewarding him with a contract extension before the start of last season. The impact of the victory was so far-reaching that it helped McNeill earn mention as one of the nation’s three most underrated coaches in an ESPN poll.

As McNeill’s players noted in their postgame interview session Saturday, the recognition was long overdue.

“He deserves everything good that comes his way. We love that man,” linebacker Zeek Bigger said.

“Coach Ruff deserves everything positive he can get,” quarterback Shane Carden added. “He’s a great coach. He’s led us through some tough times and keeps us humble in the good times like this.”

A week earlier, following the Pirates’ upset of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Carden referred to McNeill as a father figure. It’s much the same kind of relationship McNeill had with his own ECU coach, Pat Dye – a man who coincidentally was on hand Saturday to witness and share his former player’s finest hour.

“When I came to East Carolina at 17 years old, it was because of Coach Dye and how he treated everyone here,” McNeill said. “Everyone was somebody, no matter who you were, where you were from and whether you were rich or poor. He taught us the value of family, hard work and the team concept. Coach Dye has had such an influence on my life, to see us win (Saturday) was an honor for me.”

Dye was the Pirates’ coach from 1974-79 during a time in which they took their first significant steps toward becoming a major Division I program. Like his mentor, McNeill is also in charge during a time of transition.

But unlike Dye and others that have followed him – including two-time Conference USA champion Skip Holtz – ECU’s current coach does not figure to be upwardly mobile and in a hurry to leave. As a proud graduate who professes his love for the university every chance he gets, there’s a reasonable expectation that McNeill plans to stick around long enough to see the job through as the newest member of the American Athletic Conference.

If ever there was a right man for a job at just the right time, he’s it.

Don’t let the 'I’m just a country bumpkin from Robeson County’ persona fool you, as it does so many of the opposing coaches he goes up against. McNeill is as sharp as they come. It shows in every facet of the program – from the assistants he’s hired to the schemes they’ve devised to the talent they’ve recruited to the attention that’s paid to even the smallest of details.

Even more important than the Xs and Os is his genuine passion for his alma mater and the vision that someday soon, ECU will be looked upon as an equal to Power Five rivals such as South Carolina, Virginia Tech and UNC. It’s a vision Pirate fans have had since those first few years as a Division I program under Pat Dye.

But now, after the emotional victories of the past two weeks, it’s closer than ever to finally being realized. Even if McNeill is too humble to come right out and say it.

Contact Brett Friedlander

PAGE UPDATED 09/26/14 02:14 PM.

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