SPORTS
EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY
HEAD FOOTBALL COACH
RUFFIN MCNEILL
BALLIN’ OUT
By Lawrence “King Law” Davis
GREENVILLE, NC - When former Pirate
defensive back and assistant coach
Ruffin McNeill came home five years
ago, the return offered a promise of
renewed Purple and Gold passion.
Not to mention, plenty of excitement
with a plethora of points on offense, a
resurgency on the defense side of the
ball and more bowl destinations as well.
McNeill, who starred as a four-year
letterman in the late 1970’s, was
appointed East Carolina's 20th head
football coach on January 21, 2010 after
completing a 10-year stay at Texas Tech.
The Lumberton native has delivered
on those pledges during his initial four
campaigns, which also marked his 25th,
26th, 27th and 28th overall seasons
coaching at the collegiate level.
While the ECU Pirates were busy
preparing for the upcoming football
season both on and off the field, head coach Ruffin McNeill was also busy writing a
children's book.
Taylor Made Publishing, a publishing
company in Greenville, announced in
September that Coach Ruffin McNeill
wrote a book titled, “A Little Pirate's
ABCs.” Taylor Made Publishing says
the book is illustrated by their house
illustrator, AnnaMarie Lewis. There
is no official release date for the
children's book at this time.
Carden, is one of them. He has earned everything and our leaders have to show
our [coaches] motto which is “well done is better than well said.” They have to
be our hardest workers and one
of our most passionate players.
Justin Hardy, Taylor Hudson, Breon
Allen, Cam Worthy to name a few
on offense. On defense, Chrishon
Rose, Terry Williams, Johnathon
White, Zeek Bigger and Maurice
Falls to name a few. Those are
some of the kids who have believed
since day one.
Also as Coach McNeill was preparing
for his fifth season, I had the
opportunity to talk with him before the
season began and here are some of the
highlights of that conversation:
Lawre