When the East Carolina job first came open, there were more than a handful of names who were thought to be candidates for Skip Holtz‘s old job.
One of those names was Ruffin McNeill, the former Texas Tech defensive coordinator who was a candidate for the Red Raiders’ vacancy before it was handed to Tommy Tuberville.
Apparently, McNeill was contacted by ECU about their opening but, according to the Fayetteville Observer, declined to fly in to meet with athletic director Terry Holland because he wasn’t a front runner for the job.
For now, put aside the fact that someone willing to fly you in for an interview would seem to suggest that you are a serious contender. Now that Holland’s top two candidates have declined to be involved in the search process, McNeill’s name has seemingly moved up toward the top of the list.
And, because of that, McNeill is likely back in the mix.
“He (McNeill) was a backup 48 hours ago,” one source told the Observer Tuesday. “He might be in the starting position by tomorrow.”
McNeill has somewhat of a history with ECU as he was the defensive line coach there in 1992.
In another note related to the ECU coach search, we continue to hear that Bowling Green’s Dave Clawson is a candidate for the job. However, the Observer reports that there has been no contact between the two sides.