LUMBERTON — Former East Carolina head coach Ruffin McNeill will reunite with a former colleague at Oklahoma, according to multiple reports.

The 58-year-old Lumberton native will serve as the defensive line coach under new Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley, who was the offensive coordinator for five seasons under McNeill at ECU. The pair also shared time together at Texas Tech.

“I’m very excited that Ruffin McNeill is joining our coaching staff,” Riley, who took over after Bob Stoops retired last week, said in a statement. “Personally, I have a great history with him from our time together at Texas Tech and East Carolina. We’re getting an extremely high-quality person and coach. Our team and fans will love the personality and energy he’ll bring to our program.”

McNeill, an ECU alum, moves to Norman from the University of Virginia, where he spent one season as the assistant head coach to Bronco Mendenhall and the defensive line coach.

“Now, having a chance to work for Lincoln, it’s a proud moment for me because I’m very proud of Lincoln,” McNeill said. “It’s an exciting moment as well. I’ve been in coaching a long time and I’m very honored to be joining the Oklahoma family. There’s obviously outstanding tradition here and I got to know Coach (Barry) Switzer very, very well. I’m extremely excited.”

In six seasons at his alma mater in Greenville, McNeill was 42-34, including a 30-18 conference mark and one bowl victory in four bowl berths. In 2013, McNeill led the Pirates to a 10-3 record, including a 37-20 win against Ohio in the Beef O’Brady’s Bowl. In that same season he also helped the Pirates claim their first same-season sweep of in-state ACC opponents UNC and N.C. State.

A standout at Lumberton High School who played football for the Pirates under Pat Dye from 1976-79, McNeill took over at ECU in 2010 after Skip Holtz left for South Florida, and after serving as Texas Tech’s interim coach in the 2009 Alamo Bowl. The 2015 campaign was McNeill’s 30th year at the collegiate level, which included an earlier stop at ECU as the Pirates’ defensive line coach in 1992.

“I’ve been at every level and have done it a lot of different ways,” McNeill told Soonersports.com. “I’ve been fortunate to work with great people. I’ve had the big-picture view of a head coach, I’ve been a defensive coordinator and I’ve been a special teams coordinator, so I think I have some things I bring to the table. I absolutely love coaching the players. I love that part. I’m excited to do that here. Can’t wait to get on the field, get in the meeting rooms, talk strategy, talk life.

“I treat the players like they’re my sons. Not just my particular group, but the entire team. I’m looking forward to building those relationships here at OU.”

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By Rodd Baxley

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