View from the East
Thursday, February 7, 2013
By Al Myatt |
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Fax machine
yields Ruff's best so far
By
Al Myatt
©2013 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
Although East Carolina
football coach Ruffin McNeill said he doesn't run the program like a
CEO, he looked the part at his signing day news conference on Wednesday
afternoon.
McNeill stepped to the
podium in the defensive meeting room in a dark suit and purple power tie
to talk about what the fax machine in the football offices on the second
floor at the Ward Sports Medicine Building had cranked out during the
day.
With the fulfillment of a
new father emerging from a waiting room, McNeill discussed his
newly-added sons in the Pirate football family who had forwarded their
letters of intent.
"I'm their No. 2 daddy and
the rest of the coaching staff are their uncles," said the former ECU
strong safety, who looks to be getting closer and closer to his playing
weight.
As McNeill has dropped the
pounds with weight loss surgery, a strict diet and regular exercise,
there appears to have been an inverse relationship with the quality of
his recruiting classes.
In 2010, an overweight
McNeill had hit the recruiting trail like a relay runner trying to make
up ground for a dropped baton. He succeeded in keeping most of a class
that Skip Holtz's staff had put together and he subsequently got
quarterback Dominique Davis to sign aboard the Pirate ship.
The last two classes have
been about addressing a lot of immediate needs, particularly on the
defensive side, and ECU has been junior college friendly.
The 2013 signing class is
more like what McNeill meant at the outset when he said he didn't want
to microwave the program.
There are only two jucos
and both look solid. There are more in-state signees than either N.C.
State and North Carolina announced on Wednesday. Five of those 11 are
from east of I-95. That's how the Pirates were doing it when McNeill
cast his lot with Coach Pat Dye in 1976.
ECU has eight starters
back on offense and seven returning on defense from an 8-5 team, the
best record in the McNeill era. There will be expectations for a strong
showing in the Pirates' last voyage in Conference USA.
Then it's on to the Big
East, which has already become a selling point for McNeill and crew.
"The Big East, I thought
and felt, was a big advantage going into the homes with the parents,"
McNeill said. "That was one of the advantages because some of the
parents were interested in that. ... Having a vision of where we'll be
headed as a group and as an athletic program really caught the eye of a
lot of parents in the homes I went into."
Recruiting entire families
is a McNeill emphasis. The wisdom in that philosophy was shown in the
case of Arkansas recruit Alex Collins. His mother confiscated his letter
of intent on Wednesday because she wanted him to sign with Miami.
Relationships are the
cornerstone of the recruiting approach that McNeill has developed over
his 28 years as a coach on the college level. The Pirates have been
building relationships with the incoming class for several years in some
cases.
"The relationships you
establish is really key in the recruiting process," he said.
McNeill likes to get
potential players on campus to experience the impressive game day
atmosphere and welcomes them to camps for evaluation. Relationships with
high school coaches are an ongoing process headed up by Harold Robinson.
The Pirates can sell
prospects on the university itself and life beyond college, even on the
playing field as personified by fullback Vonta Leach of the Baltimore
Ravens, who recently became the 14th ECU player to earn a Super Bowl
ring.
Each of the incoming
players will be paired up with a big brother, a former Pirate player who
will assist in their adjustment to college life and the college game.
It's part of the family
approach that appeals to so many recruits.
McNeill was pleased with
the overall operation that generated the focus in the football offices
on Wednesday.
"Having 19 guys watch the
fax machine is a little weird," he conceded.
While everyone in the
football office works together to bring the best fresh blood into the
program, there can be unforeseen obstacles. McNeill acknowledged that
luck is an element in the process.
Bill Dooley lost a recruit
to Clemson because there wasn't an ice cream machine in the training
line at North Carolina. Dooley made sure he had an ice cream machine
when he subsequently coached at Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.
"There are always
battles," McNeill said. "You win some and you lose some. I like the ones
we won today."
McNeill's approach to the
game starts up front and the newcomers include defensive linemen Randall
Anderson, Malcolm Ashley, Demage Bailey, Demetri McGill and Mike Myers.
Offensive linemen include Christian Matau, Brandon Smith, Marquis
Wallace and Larry Williams.
Linebacker Devaris Brunson
is among the highest regarded of the Pirates' haul by recruiting
services. Kirk Donaldson, Patrick Green and Tristan Mumford also have
been added to the linebacking corps.
The secondary is the most
pressing area in terms of immediate need. DaShawn Benton was part of a
late commitment surge and is projected as a corner. A.J. Coplon of
Havelock is one of the regional signees. McNeill said prized recruit
Lucas Thompson, who initially chose ECU last year, should be enrolled
for the first semester of summer school. Travis Phillips, Travon Simmons
and Xavier Smith also represent potential assistance in the secondary.
ECU's offense depends on
capable receivers and the signees there include Trevon Brown, Davon
Grayson and Isaiah Jones. The Pirates also signed tight end Darren
Dowdell, a teammate of Benton's who was coveted by some high level
programs.
Terrell Lane is the lone
running back. He comes from Hutchinson Community College in Kansas with
good size and numbers.
ECU signed one
quarterback, Kurt Benkert, who is already on campus. Anderson, Benkert,
Mumford and Brandon Smith are already involved in offseason sessions
with strength and conditioning guru Jeff Connors.
Former Pirates coach Steve
Logan always deferred his assessment of a signing class and time will
certainly tell the extent of the contributions to be wrought from
Wednesday's faxes.
Four, often five years,
can produce unforeseen circumstances in a player's development. Leach
moved from linebacker to fullback during his college career.
Pirates defensive line
coach Marc Yellock noted that rising junior nose tackle Terry Williams
came to ECU as a linebacker. That was before Williams got a summer job
at Zaxby's and gained 60 pounds.
"Now he's playing with his
hand on the ground," Yellock said.
E-mail Al Myatt
PAGE UPDATED
02/07/13 03:35 AM.
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