Ruffin McNeill, is entering his 3rd season at NC State, serving as Special Assistant to the Head Coach. The Wolfpack’s season opener is against East Carolina, which happens to be where McNeill played football and graduated (1976-80), coached the Defensive Line (1992), and ultimately served as Head Coach for 5 years (2010-15).

McNeill spoke with the media today to give his thoughts on going back to Greenville for the first time as an opponent.

You can watch the video above, or check out some of his statements that I found noteworthy below.

• Last year when McNeill was inducted into East Carolina’s Hall of Fame, it was the first time he’d been back since he was fired from being the head coach of the Pirates in 2015. Didn’t know what it was going to feel like, but felt good to be back. With that being said, McNeil’s never been there as an opponent, only player and coach.
• McNeill offered a scholarship to Senior ECU Quarterback Holton Ahlers when he was in 9th grade. So did Coach Doeren. Knew he would be a great leader. At that time he was already a great athlete in basketball, baseball and football. Ahlers went to the same Quarterback School as Devin Leary this summer.
• Knows Pirates Head Coach Mike Houston extremely well, dating back to when Houston was at James Madison. Assistant’s Donnie Kirkpatrick and Tripp Weaver were on McNeill’s staff at ECU.
• McNeill prefers coaching teams that have high expectations, the key is learning on how to handle it. This team understands daily focus and preparation is key. They’ve learned how to handle today. Don’t look forward. Don’t look back. Just handle today. That’s what we’re doing now.
• As a player at ECU, McNeill led the Pirates to a victory over NC State in Raleigh, making the game-winning tackle. It was McNeil’s first start (Sophomore season), in the first game of the season. Johnny Evans was the Wolfpack Quarterback, and they still talk about that game to this day.
• On game day, his eyes are there to help Coach Doeren. Whatever adjustments he sees need to be made, he talks to Doeren about them at halftime, and then after the game. He gives support and observation during the game.

When McNeill was asked about his relationship with Dave Doeren, he had the following to say. I in no way want to summarize it or condense it.

“It’s been documented that I met Dave when he was 23 or 24 years old and he was at Southern Cal and I was at Fresno State. We’ve been close since then. There’s a love and friendship and mentorship, all those combined in one. I consider Dave and Sara and the boys family. My dad is family to Dave, and I consider his dad family to me. He considers Erlene and my girls family. It’s a tight relationship. He is boss, and I know that clearly. So I call him boss and not Dave. Well, sometimes Dave, but most of the time boss. It’s a great relationship. We have so much correlation between our families and our histories in coaching. With his dad and my dad going through similar experiences, it’s constant communication.

It’s a love that you really can’t measure. I’ve known him most of his entire adult life. During some challenging times in my career, the first phone call I have gotten was from Dave. You can’t make that up. Each challenging experience, the first call I got was from Dave. You can’t plan that. It’s a call up to say ‘are you good? Do you need anything?’ Of course we tell each other we love each other and all that. Now working together for three years, we’ve been opponents for years but even then we were friends and communicating. But the last three years have been awesome.”